Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed Wednesday to cooperate in addressing issues linked to North Korea, including past abductions of Japanese citizens, before Trump meets with the North's leader Kim Jong Un next week.
"We firmly and closely coordinated our policies in the run-up to the second U.S.-North Korea summit to resolve nuclear, missile and abduction issues," Abe told reporters after speaking with Trump on the phone.
Abe said Trump promised to prioritize helping address the abductions by North Korean agents of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, which has prevented the normalization of diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang. Abe has also expressed his readiness to meet directly with Kim.