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.
Trump extols America, rails at communism in US 250th celebration
Zelenskyy denies Russian capture of key eastern city Kostiantynivka
Keiko Fujimori declared winner of Peru presidential race
Ukrainian rescuers clear rubble as Kyiv mourns 30 killed in Russian attack
Monaco blast suspect is a Ukrainian woman who fled to Germany
Clinical trials begin for two potential Ebola treatments
India issues notice to Telegram, Signal on concerns over usernames, source says
Blast at Damascus cafe kills nine, wounds 20
