Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)–South Korea is considering sending Unification Minister Chung Dong-young to Japan next week for possible talks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, sources familiar with relations between the two countries told Jiji Press on Friday. Seoul apparently wants to obtain cooperation from Tokyo in its efforts to resume dialogue with Pyongyang at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed an eagerness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Japan, for its part, appears willing to coordinate responses with South Korea to advance its own relations with North Korea, which have remained stalled over abductions of Japanese nationals by Pyongyang and other issues. Chung will be the first South Korean unification minister to visit Japan since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office in June last year. Chung, known as an advocate for a conciliatory approach toward Pyongyang, visited North Korea and met with then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in June 2005, when he was unification minister under then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
