Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with South Korea's intelligence chief on Tuesday, and said that while he welcomes any dialogue with North Korea regarding the country's denuclearization, the North must take action as well.
"I believe it is extremely important that North Korea takes concrete actions to achieve what it has said," Abe said at the beginning of talks with South Korean intelligence chief Suh Hoon. President Donald Trump has agreed to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by May, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to meet Kim in late April.
Suh is in Tokyo to brief Japanese officials on developments. He was part of a South Korean delegation that met Kim in Pyongyang last week. Another senior member of the delegation has briefed Chinese officials in Beijing.
"I think it was very meaningful that Workers Party of Korea Chairman Kim Jong Un expressed his intentions toward denuclearization in his own words," Suh said. He said he hoped to convey Moon's message that cooperation between the two countries is crucial to push forward a move toward peace on the Korean Peninsula.
-AP, Tokyo