Loading
Search
▼ Abe to Attend Olympics; Talks Planned
- Category:Event
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday he intends to attend the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, which will be held in South Korea from Feb. 9.
Abe plans to hold talks with South Korean President Moon Jae In during his visit to the country, conveying Tokyo’s rejection of Seoul’s new stance on the bilateral agreement regarding the comfort women issue and reconfirming the two governments’ policy of maximizing pressure on North Korea.
Abe told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday morning, “I’d like to go to the Pyeongchang Games, which will be held in another part of Asia, and cheer on the team.”
“I intend to hold a Japan-South Korea summit meeting and firmly convey Japan’s stance on the Japan-South Korea agreement. To deal with threats by North Korea, I intend to express the necessity of cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea and the need of maintaining pressure [against North Korea].”
Abe decided to visit South Korea as part of an effort to call on Seoul — which has been notably conciliatory toward Pyongyang regarding the Pyeongchang Games — not to disrupt the approach of Japan, the United States and South Korea applying pressure on North Korea.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference on Wednesday, “To get North Korea to change its policies, [Abe] will confirm during the summit meeting [with Moon] the heightening of pressure [on Pyongyang] in every way.”
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres are expected to attend the opening ceremony, so Abe’s attendance is also aimed at confirming the cooperation of the international community. There was deep-seated caution toward Abe’s visit to South Korea, in light of Seoul’s recent announcement of its new policy, which is negative on the bilateral deal.
A mid-level Liberal Democratic Party member said, “This is not a time when [the two nations] can build a friendly relationship.” Abe had also refrained from clarifying his stance, saying, “I’d like to consider [the visit] by taking into account the Diet schedule.”
But the Japanese government decided that if Abe chose not to visit South Korea, it might send a message both at home and abroad that bilateral relations have cooled. Tokyo also concluded that the prime minister’s visit would be expedient in terms of the bilateral agreement on the comfort women issue.
“It would be more beneficial to directly urge [President] Moon during their talks to implement the agreement and convey [Japan’s] refusal of [Seoul’s] new policy,” a source close to Abe said.
Suga reiterated Tokyo’s stance at the press conference: “[The government] has no intention of moving the agreement even a millimeter.”
The LDP’s and Komeito’s secretaries general and Diet affairs committee chairmen confirmed Wednesday morning their shared stance of proceeding with arrangements with opposition parties over the Diet schedule, in a bid to avoid any negative impact on the prime minister’s visit to South Korea.
Abe plans to hold talks with South Korean President Moon Jae In during his visit to the country, conveying Tokyo’s rejection of Seoul’s new stance on the bilateral agreement regarding the comfort women issue and reconfirming the two governments’ policy of maximizing pressure on North Korea.
Abe told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday morning, “I’d like to go to the Pyeongchang Games, which will be held in another part of Asia, and cheer on the team.”
“I intend to hold a Japan-South Korea summit meeting and firmly convey Japan’s stance on the Japan-South Korea agreement. To deal with threats by North Korea, I intend to express the necessity of cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea and the need of maintaining pressure [against North Korea].”
Abe decided to visit South Korea as part of an effort to call on Seoul — which has been notably conciliatory toward Pyongyang regarding the Pyeongchang Games — not to disrupt the approach of Japan, the United States and South Korea applying pressure on North Korea.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference on Wednesday, “To get North Korea to change its policies, [Abe] will confirm during the summit meeting [with Moon] the heightening of pressure [on Pyongyang] in every way.”
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres are expected to attend the opening ceremony, so Abe’s attendance is also aimed at confirming the cooperation of the international community. There was deep-seated caution toward Abe’s visit to South Korea, in light of Seoul’s recent announcement of its new policy, which is negative on the bilateral deal.
A mid-level Liberal Democratic Party member said, “This is not a time when [the two nations] can build a friendly relationship.” Abe had also refrained from clarifying his stance, saying, “I’d like to consider [the visit] by taking into account the Diet schedule.”
But the Japanese government decided that if Abe chose not to visit South Korea, it might send a message both at home and abroad that bilateral relations have cooled. Tokyo also concluded that the prime minister’s visit would be expedient in terms of the bilateral agreement on the comfort women issue.
“It would be more beneficial to directly urge [President] Moon during their talks to implement the agreement and convey [Japan’s] refusal of [Seoul’s] new policy,” a source close to Abe said.
Suga reiterated Tokyo’s stance at the press conference: “[The government] has no intention of moving the agreement even a millimeter.”
The LDP’s and Komeito’s secretaries general and Diet affairs committee chairmen confirmed Wednesday morning their shared stance of proceeding with arrangements with opposition parties over the Diet schedule, in a bid to avoid any negative impact on the prime minister’s visit to South Korea.
- January 25, 2018
- Comment (0)
- Trackback(0)