Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has plenty to worry about ahead of Donald Trump's meeting with Kim Jong Un next week, including the prospect of a deal that undermines Japan's six-decade security alliance with the U.S. and leaves the island nation vulnerable to attack.
But it's another issue that will top Abe's agenda when he meets Trump for less than two hours at the White House on Thursday: The fate of 12 Japanese citizens abducted in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Japan wants progress on the abductees to be given the same weight as demands over North Korea's nuclear arms and missile programs in Trump's negotiations with Kim.
"I will discuss with the president about the issues of nuclear weapons and missiles, and most importantly the abduction issue," Abe told reporters on Wednesday before leaving. "I hope the U.S.-North Korea summit will be a success."