Taro Kono is arranging his first visit to South Korea next week as foreign minister, in a trip that will see him to try to influence the upcoming summit between the North and South Korean leaders, government sources said Monday.
Kono plans to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in and request that he bring up the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s in his April 27 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the sources said.
Lacking a direct communication channel with Kim, Japan has apparently decided it must go through Moon to pursue a resolution to the abduction issue.