Japan PM Abe: must face North Korea directly over abductions

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made comments today in Tokyo, stating that Japan will have to take a more proactive approach to resolving their abduction issue with North Korea, and that Japan will resolve the problem by directly facing North Korea in upcoming meetings.

Abe made a short visit to US President Donald Trump in the run-up to the recent Trump-Kim summit, and asked the POTUS to bring up the topic of abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea; Trump was reported to have acknowledged the request, but press briefings following the summit are unclear if the topic ever came up.

The Japanese government is adamant that North Korea has directly kidnapped at least 17 of their citizens recently, and another 883 people remain missing whose disappearances could have links with North Korea.