JAPAN/NORTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Families of Japanese who were abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s thanked President Donald Trump on Monday [5-27-19] for his sympathy and for meeting with them while visiting Japan. Trump, who is making a four-day state visit, appeared to listen intently to the relatives’ accounts of their ordeals, the families said after the meeting. Shigeo Iizuka, 80, whose sister was abducted in the 1970s, asked Trump to work with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in getting North Korea to return the victims…Trump said he supports Abe’s intent to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to resolve the issue. Abe renewed his willingness to meet Kim face-to-face without preconditions, such as its denuclearization, to resolve the abduction issue. Abe noted, however, that there currently are no prospects of a summit with Kim. Sakie Yokota, 83, whose 13-year-old daughter Megumi was abducted in 1977, said Trump gave the families hope for a breakthrough.”
–The Associated Press, “Trump Meets With Families of Japanese Abducted by N. Korea,” The New York Times online, May 27, 2019