Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had long made a big deal out taking a hard-line stance against North Korea. But the historic June 12 meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump seems to have changed his mind.
Abe, who had ruled out "dialogue for the sake of dialogue" with the nuclear-armed hermit state, now appears eager to arrange a summit with Kim following the dramatic show created by the Kim-Trump summit in Singapore.
"In the end, I myself need to meet Chairman Kim face to face and have a summit talk," Abe told an Upper House session on June 18.