Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago resort and the issue of North Korea is likely to feature in his agenda. Trump’s sudden decision to meet Kim Jong-un and discuss denuclearization has got Abe worried because he has not been kept in the picture even though he is an ally of the US. Time reports that the two-day summit will begin with a one-on-one meeting followed by discussions with the focus on the meeting with the North Korean leader. In the evening, the president and first lady Melania Trump will have dinner with Shinzo Abe and his wife.

Golf is not on the official schedule even though both Trump and Abe are fond of the game and have played together in the past.

The meeting will help

The nuclear programs of North Korea were posing a threat to not only the US but to the whole world including the allies South Korea and Japan. Therefore, while the Trump administration took Seoul into confidence, it ignored Tokyo. Shinzo Abe wants an assurance from Donald Trump that the interests of his country will not be overlooked. Officials of both sides maintain that Trump and Abe have remained in regular contact ever since the US president accepted the invitation of Kim Jong-un. According to Mike Pompeo, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, the objective of the Trump-Kim summit is to convince Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions directed towards harming America.

The direct link between Trump and Kim

In the recent past, a link of sorts has been forged between the administrations of the United States and North Korea. Donald Trump has dropped hints to that effect at the Mar-a-Lago resort. New Zealand Herald adds that the President did not elaborate on the issue but indicated that the two countries have opened up direct channels of communication at sufficiently high levels. There have been unconfirmed reports about CIA Director Mike Pompeo and his recent top-secret visit to North Korea. He had apparently gone to meet Kim Jong-un to prepare the base for talks between the two leaders. Pompeo has been nominated to become the US secretary of state and is believed to have taken the lead for negotiations with Pyongyang.

While talking with Shinzo Abe in Mar-a-Lago, the president has admitted that there has been interaction at very high levels with North Korea but he did not disclose any details. Obviously, he was playing the cards close to his chest. If he succeeds in his mission, it will be a relief for the world because the tension in the region was becoming a major threat to global stability.
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