Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Saturday he was willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try and resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted in the 1960s and 1970s, media reported.
"I am determined to face Kim Jong Un directly myself, without any preconditions," Kishida said at a gathering on the issue in Tokyo, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said. The Nikkei and Kyodo news agency carried similar reports.
Pyongyang admitted in 2002 to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens decades before. Five abductees and their families later returned to Japan, saying the others had died.
However, according to local media, Tokyo believes 17 Japanese were abducted and continues to investigate the fate of those who didn't return.
Thai teen kills 7 in rampage at home and school before shooting himself
US appeals court blocks Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project
Spain dismantles one of Mediterranean's largest human smuggling networks
Syria says bomb on minibus near Damascus wounded 14, deaths reported mistakenly
Spain hopes to transfer migrant minors to mainland within weeks
