On the 22nd, Japanese media, including NHK Broadcasting, reported that Joe Biden held a telephone talk between the top security officials in the US and Japan for the first time after the inauguration of the US administration.
Sullivan-Kitamura first call
Dispute with China Senkaku Confirms Application of US-Japan Security Treaty
“The US decided to cooperate in resolving the abduction of Japanese people”
–
A P-3C patrol plane belonging to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is flying over the Senkaku Islands, which China and Japan claim to be their own territory. [중앙포토]
– According to reports, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Japan National Security Commissioner Shigeru Kitamura talked about 30 minutes the night before. In their first call, the two confirmed that the Senkaku Islands (Chinese name Diaoyudao) were subject to the US-Japan security treaty, and agreed to cooperate in resolving the abduction of Japanese by North Korea.
First, regarding the Senkaku Islands, where Japan and China are in dispute over sovereignty, the United States said that the region applies to Article 5 of the US-Japan Security Treaty, which stipulates the US’s obligations to defend Japan. It gave Japan’s hand in the territorial conflict between Japan and China.
The two countries also agreed to cooperate on North Korea’s abduction of Japanese citizens, which Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s most important issue. Minister of Defense Sakai Manabu said at a regular press conference that day, “(Director Kitamura to Sullivan’s assistant) asked for the understanding and cooperation of the Biden regime in resolving the kidnapping problem, and I heard that the United States would cooperate.”
The Japanese government officially announced 17 out of 12 Japanese abductions by North Korea. Japan claims that 12 of them remain unsolved except for the five who returned to Korea in the form of temporary return after former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited North Korea in 2002.
However, North Korea argues that 8 out of 12 people have died and 4 have not entered the country, and that the abduction issue has been resolved.
In this call, the two also agreed to cooperate closely on global challenges, including strengthening the US-Japan alliance, realizing a’free and open India-Pacific’, and countermeasures against the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). Told.
Meanwhile, according to Kyodo News, the Japanese Prime Minister’s residence instructed the relevant departments to close the telephone talks between Prime Minister Suga and President Biden early. President Biden is scheduled to make his first phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau among foreign leaders on the 22nd, so the telephone talk with Prime Minister Suga is expected to follow.
Tokyo = Correspondent Lee Young-hee [email protected]
–
