Japan’s leader seeks a meeting with North Korea and an end to deflation, to boost public support

By YURI KAGEYAMA
Assoiated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is reiterating his determination to work toward a summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to realize the return of Japanese people believed abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 80s. He was speaking Thursday at a news conference after the government budget cleared parliament. He says he is directly involved in high-level negotiations to fix various bilateral problems, amid growing worries about neighboring North Korea’s missiles and nuclear weapons programs. Japan thinks hundreds of its citizens remain abducted. Kishida, whose support ratings are at record lows, promised to wrest the nation out of decades-long deflation and set off “a positive cycle” of higher wages, company profits and strong productivity.