President Trump has seemed to indicate the possibility of opening diplomatic negotiations with North Korea if the regime agreed to return Japanese citizens it had taken during the 1970s and 80s.
President Trump has seemed to indicate the possibility of opening diplomatic negotiations with North Korea if the regime agreed to return Japanese citizens it had kidnapped during the 1970s and 80s, reports CNN.
At a joint press conference with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Monday, Trump was asked about his meeting with abductees' family members and possible military rescue options.
"I think it would be a tremendous signal if Kim Jong-un would send them back," Trump said. "If he would send them back, that would be the start of something -- I think, would be just something very special if they would do that."
Trump's remark follows the meeting he and Abe had with the families of Japanese citizens who were taken against their will to Pyongyang for teaching North Korean agents about Japan for spying purposes, notes NPR.
According to CNN, the regime "admitted to some of the abductions in the early 2000s, but Tokyo has accused North Korea of not being completely transparent."
And more than a dozen people have still not been returned.
As such, the families tried to lobby Trump for the U.S.'s help in the matter, with one man whose mother was kidnapped saying, "We are speaking to the most influential figure in the world, and we ask him to speak on behalf of Japan and put pressure directly on Kim Jong Un for us. That is our hope."
