Japan PM Suga says ready to meet Kim Jong-un without any conditions

TIL Desk/World/Tokyo/ In his debut address to the UN General Assembly, Japan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has said that he was willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “without any conditions”.

“Establishing constructive relations between Japan and North Korea will not only serve the interests of both sides but will also greatly contribute to regional peace and stability,” Suga said in a recorded speech on Friday at the annual gathering of world leaders in New York.

“I will miss no opportunity to take actions with all my dedication,” he added. Regarding the issue of North Korea’s abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, Suga said the issue must be resolved as soon as possible because of the advancing age of the victims’ families.

In the address, Suga, who was elected as Japan’s first new leader in nearly eight years in an extraordinary parliamentary session on September 16, also vowed full support for the effort to ensure fair access to coronavirus drugs and vaccines, including in developing countries.