Trump vowed to help Japan on abductions by North Korea: Premier Ishiba

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday told family members of Japanese nationals abducted decades ago by North Korea that US President Donald Trump had made a promise to raise the issue if Washington-Pyongyang talks resume.

Ishiba said he secured the US president’s "full support" for his push to resolve the abduction issue, according to the Kyodo news agency.

"We agreed that he (Trump) will be sure to raise the issue" if another round of US-North Korea talks takes place, he said.

Ishiba’s remarks came after he met Trump in Washington earlier this month.

The Japanese government claims that North Korea had abducted its 17 nationals in the 1970s and 1980s and five of them were repatriated in 2002 after a visit to Pyongyang by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Ishiba has also planned to open liaison offices in Tokyo and Pyongyang to resolve the long-standing issue.

In 2002, North Korea admitted that it had sent agents to abduct 13 Japanese people in the 1970s and 1980s, pressing them into service training its spies in Japanese language and customs.

This has since remained a major issue in Japan.