Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said Monday she has formally requested a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as part of a renewed push to resolve the long-running issue of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang decades ago.
Speaking at an awareness event in Tokyo attended by family members of the abductees, Takaichi said she had conveyed Tokyo’s desire for a top-level meeting and expressed determination to secure a “breakthrough” during her term. “In order to build a new, fruitful relation between Japan and North Korea, I am resolved to meet face-to-face with Chairman Kim Jong Un,” she told the gathering. Pyongyang has not yet issued a public response to the request.
The abduction cases are one of the most painful and politically sensitive issues between Tokyo and Pyongyang. After years of denials, North Korea publicly acknowledged in 2002 that its agents had kidnapped a group of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, saying 13 people had been taken to the North to train agents in Japanese language and customs. Tokyo maintains the official list at 17 abductees and has long warned that others could also have been taken.
The issue has repeatedly been a barrier to any normalization of ties. In the early 2000s, then-prime minister Junichiro Koizumi secured the return of five abductees after visiting Pyongyang in 2002 and 2004 and meeting the North’s then leader Kim Jong Il, but Pyongyang said the remaining cases were closed, claiming the survivors had died. Subsequent Japanese administrations have sought progress through sanctions, diplomatic channels and pressure from allies, but direct talks with Kim have not been achieved.
Takaichi, who was elected prime minister in October, framed the issue as both a human tragedy and a matter of national sovereignty. “I will use any means necessary for this issue with the lives of the victims and our national sovereignty at stake,” she said, echoing vows from earlier leaders that resolving the abduction cases remains a priority for Japan. She told the victims’ families her cabinet would treat the issue as a core mission.
Tokyo has also been leveraging diplomatic support from Washington to keep the spotlight on the cases. U.S. President Donald Trump met members of abductees’ families during his recent visit to Tokyo and pledged U.S. backing for efforts to resolve the matter, underscoring the international dimension of Japan’s campaign. Japan’s government has long cultivated U.S. attention on the abductions as part of its strategy to sustain pressure on Pyongyang.
Experts say Takaichi faces significant obstacles. North Korea has for years linked progress on a range of bilateral issues — including potential economic benefits or the easing of sanctions — to Japan’s acceptance of political compromises that Tokyo finds unacceptable, particularly any suggestion of overlooking Pyongyang’s weapons programs. Moreover, relationships between the two countries remain fraught by security concerns, mutual distrust and Seoul’s own complex role on the peninsula. Past attempts at piecemeal confidence-building, including proposals for liaison offices, have failed to yield durable progress.
If Pyongyang were to accept talks, analysts say Takaichi would need to balance the strong domestic demand for the abductees’ return with broader security considerations, including Japan’s alliance with the United States and the international sanctions regime aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. Any summit would also carry political risk at home: families of the abductees and conservative factions expect tangible results, and failure to make progress could undermine Takaichi’s pledges.
For the families, the prime minister’s statement offered cautious hope amid decades of uncertainty. “We’ve waited for so long,” one family representative told reporters after the event, calling for speedy and concrete action. Those relatives continue to press Tokyo for every available diplomatic avenue to bring their loved ones home or at least to learn their fate.
