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WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump decided to meet the relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea during his visit to Japan from Sunday because he was moved by what he had heard about abductees after their families met with officials of the US government in September, a senior White House official told reporters on Tuesday.
The official said that when Trump heard about the families that visited the White House, he was very interested in the story and moved by it.
In a speech at the UN General Assembly meeting in September, Trump referred to the abduction of Megumi Yokota, who was kidnapped by North Korea in 1977 when she was 13 years old. Prior to the UN meeting, the official had informed Trump about what the Japanese abductees’ families told the White House during their visit that month, which led to the president’s address about Yokota to the UN meeting, the official said.
In June, a US university student who had been detained by North Korea when he was traveling there died days after he was released from captivity in a coma and taken back to his home country. Trump is believed to feel deep empathy for the families of Japanese abductees, as the president directly oversaw the negotiations to release the US student.
The official also said Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would discuss cooperation measures to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region during their bilateral meeting on Monday.
In August 2016, Abe announced a “free and open Indo-Pacific strategy.” Trump views this as one of the key US strategies for the Asia region, intending to strengthen Japan-US cooperation in such fields as security, trade and investment.