Japanese foreign ministry reported on Monday, the US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono have held a telephonic conversation on Monday, were both the leaders agreed to hold a meet in February ahead of the second summit between the United States president and North Korean president.
White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders has announced that US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un will hold a second summit at the end of February and a venue would get disclosed later. Trump discussed details of the upcoming Trump-Kim summit on Friday, with North Korean vice chairman Kim Yong-chol in Washington.
In an official statement, the Japanese foreign ministry said: “Both ministers agreed to coordinate a proposal to hold talks between the foreign ministers of Japan and the United States in mid-February if circumstances allow.”
It added Pompeo had explained Kono the outcome of Trump’s meeting with North’ Kim Yong-Chol.
According to Sputnik News reports, the ministry also reported that Pompeo and Kono had confirmed their effort to cooperate towards the resolution of the problem of Japan’s citizens abducted by North Korean intelligence services in the past.
Tokyo, following Pyongyang-Washington negotiations, waiting for possible ways to discuss the fate of the abducted Japanese people with North Korea. Regarding this, North Korea believes that the problem has been resolved in 2002 when it expressed regret over the abductions to Japan and allowed five abducted Japanese to return to their homeland.
The Kyodo news agency has reported last year that senior officials from both Japan and North Korean intelligence agencies held a meeting to discuss abductee issue in Mongolia on October 6 to 8.