The prime minister of Japan on Tuesday left for the United States to meet with the US president in a summit focusing on talks with North Korea and protectionist measures announced by Washington.

Shinzo Abe will attend a two-day summit with Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago in Florida until Wednesday, his second visit to Trump's private house since the latter became president in January 2017. </s> NEW YORK (Reuters) - Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described Donald Trump as a “trustworthy leader” after meeting the U.S. president-elect on Thursday to get clarity on statements Trump had made while campaigning that had caused concern about the alliance.

Abe, speaking after the hastily arranged 90-minute meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan, reporters: “The talks made me feel sure that we can build a relationship of trust.” But he would not disclose specifics because the conversation was unofficial.

Trump, in a brief entry on his Facebook page accompanied by a photo of the two men, said: “It was a pleasure to have Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stop by my home and begin a great friendship.”

Japan’s leadership has been nervous about the future of an alliance that is core to Tokyo’s diplomacy and security.

Trump had fanned worries in Tokyo and beyond with comments on the possibility of Japan acquiring nuclear arms, demands that allies pay more for keeping U.S. forces on their soil or face their possible withdrawal, and his opposition to the U.S.-led 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact.

Abe had worked closely with President Barack Obama on the TPP trade pact, which was part of Obama’s push to counter the rising strength of China and a pillar of Abe’s economic reforms.

“Alliances cannot function without trust. I am now confident that President-elect Trump is a trustworthy leader,” said Abe, describing the talks as “candid” and held in a “warm atmosphere”.

Abe gave Trump a golf driver and received golf-wear in return, Japanese officials said.

Photographs taken inside the ornate meeting room at Trump Tower showed Abe accompanied only by an interpreter and Trump by his daughter Ivanka, her husband and Trump adviser Jared Kushner, and Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn whom a senior Trump official said on Thursday had been offered the national security adviser position.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses media following a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 17, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

COMMON GROUND

Abe said he had agreed to meet again with Trump “at a convenient time to cover a wider area in greater depth.”

It was unclear if that would happen before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump official Kellyanne Conway told CBS earlier on Thursday that “any deeper conversations about policy and the relationship between Japan and the United States will have to wait until after the inauguration.”

Back in Tokyo, Finance Minister Taro Aso commented: “The meeting ran longer than planned, which means that they were on the same wavelength and it went well.”

Some of Trump’s campaign rhetoric suggested an image of Japan forged in the 1980s, when Tokyo was seen by many in the United States as a threat to jobs and a free-rider on defense.

A Trump adviser who spoke earlier in the week, however, stressed a more positive view and credited Abe with making changes.

“Frankly, the prime minister has been more assertive and forthright in trying to make those changes to Japan’s global posture,” he said.

Trump, a brash billionaire real estate magnate, and Abe, a political blue blood, share a stated desire to raise their countries’ global standing and both have support from right-wing constituencies.

Abe has boosted Japan’s overall defense spending since taking office in 2012. He has also stretched the limits of its pacifist postwar constitution to allow the military to take a bigger global role. Japan’s defense spending, though, still stands at just over 1 percent of GDP compared with more than 3 percent in the United States.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is taken in a motorcade to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 17, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Abe was expected to see Obama at an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru on the weekend. Hours before Abe and Trump met, Obama’s secretary of state, John Kerry, and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met in Lima to discuss the Paris climate accord - a deal Trump has pledged to exit.

Diplomats and analysts say that however good the atmospherics, it will be hard to assess Trump’s policies on security issues ranging from overseas deployments of U.S. troops, China’s maritime assertiveness and the North Korean nuclear threat until Trump makes key appointments. </s> The prime minister of Japan is to travel to the United States on Tuesday to meet with its president in a summit focusing on talks with North Korea, and on protectionist measures announced by the White House.

Shinzo Abe and Donald Trump are scheduled to take part in a two-day summit in Mar-a-Lago (Florida) until Wednesday. </s> Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has welcomed the third summit of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and expressed hope for continuation of such a dialogue

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st July, 2019) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has welcomed the third summit of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and expressed hope for continuation of such a dialogue.

"Japan supports the US-North Korean process. I hope that the current negotiations at the highest level will continue," Abe said as quoted by Kyodo news Agency on Monday.

On Saturday, Trump met with Kim in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas and held an hour-long meeting in private inside the Freedom House on the South Korean side of the zone.

Trump even briefly stepped over the demarcation line into North Korean soil, becoming the first US president to do so.

Following the meeting, Abe reiterated his intention to have talks with Kim over North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, a pressing issue in relation between Tokyo and Pyongyang.

Kim and Trump first met in Singapore in June 2018, when the two leaders expressed commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The second round of talks, held in February in Vietnam, however, ended abruptly without any agreement. </s> In this September 7, 2017 file photo, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe listens during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia. | Photo Credit: AP

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will decide on the timing of a snap general election after he returns on Friday from a trip this week to address the United Nations.

“Regarding the dissolution of the lower house, I would like to refrain from commenting on every question, but I would like to make a decision when I return home,” Mr. Abe told reporters on Monday as he left for New York, according to a Foreign Ministry transcript.

Mr. Abe is considering calling a general election, the third since he swept to power in December 2012, as early as Oct. 22, to take advantage of a rebound in his approval ratings after a series of scandals for this coalition government, and disarray in the main opposition party, government and ruling party sources told Reuters on Sunday.

Mr. Abe is scheduled to speak at the UN General Assembly and the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, and is seeking to arrange meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in before returning to Japan on Friday.

An early vote would take advantage of defections in opposition Democratic Party and could also dilute a potential challenge from an embryonic party that allies of popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, an ex-LDP lawmaker, are trying to form.

Mr. Abe’s coalition would be likely to lose its two-thirds “super majority” in the lower house but keep a simple majority, political sources say. </s> (CNN) Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who heads Tuesday to Mar-a-Lago for a meeting with US President Donald Trump, is in dire need of a policy win as he faces challenges abroad and protests at home.

After staking out a hawkish position on North Korea, Abe was caught on the back foot when Trump announced he was open to a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Tokyo's previous warnings not to trust Pyongyang have been dropped as both Washington and Seoul barreled forward with engagement. Abe is now seeking a summit with Kim for himself, rather than be further left out of North Asia's rapidly changing political situation.

While Abe had cultivated close ties with Trump, becoming the first foreign leader to meet him after his election, he has also faced disputes with the US leader over trade.

"It's a sign of the continuing close relationship that he was granted a meeting at short notice," said Euan Graham, director of the International Security Program at Australia's Lowy Institute.

"But the shine is coming off there, too, given Trump's tendency to apply leverage freely between economic and security issues."

Tens of thousands protested outside Japan's Parliament in Tokyo on Saturday, calling Abe a liar and demanding his resignation over a corruption scandal which has dogged his premiership for months.

While this weekend's protests did not come near the size of rallies in 2015 protesting Abe's push to expand the military, the combination of pressure from within the LDP and from the public has some questioning whether Abe can hold on.

"Abe appears unable to shake off the scandals," said Graham, though he pointed out "there was a time when serving Japanese Prime Ministers would be lucky to register more than 20% popularity ratings."

"But it is the stickiest period he has faced since returning to the premiership, without question," he said.

Duncan Innes-Ker, Asia regional director at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said there was "no question" that Abe had been hurt by the ongoing scandal.

"Against this background Abe badly needs a win," he said.

The Japanese leader may be hoping that win will come at Mar-a-Lago, where, according to a statement from the White House, Trump and Abe will "explore ways to expand fair and reciprocal trade and investment ties between the United States and Japan."

Innes-Ker said Trump "could potentially offer concessions on the steel and aluminum issue or he could signal a US intention to rejoin the (Trans-Pacific Partnership)."

While "both would be seen as a triumph for Abe," he warned they would not come without concessions from Tokyo.

While Trump did surprise observers by indicating last week he may be open to rejoining the TPP -- an Obama-negotiated trade deal he once slammed -- the White House is more likely to push Tokyo to sign a bilateral deal less to Abe's liking.

Since returning to the premiership in 2012, Abe has made security a key plank of his appeal. His tough response to North Korean missile testing last year was a key part of his election campaign during last year's snap election.

Abe's hawkish posture seems to have backfired, however, with both Seoul and Washington pursuing engagement with Pyongyang.

"On North Korea, Japan now looks the most isolated of the allies. It has even tried reopening independent contacts with Pyongyang, and is conducting fence-mending diplomacy with China currently," Graham said.

"But Abe has made his choice to double down on the US Alliance, and cannot be expected to reverse course now."

One major concern in Tokyo is that a US future deal with North Korea could result in Pyongyang retaining missiles which can target Japan.

He said he would call on Trump to push North Korea to "also abandon short and intermediate-range missiles that put Japan within range."

"Even South Korea is struggling to get its voice heard as the denuclearization push increasingly becomes a US-China-North Korean discussion," Innes-Ker said.

"It is not clear that any party is sidelining Japan as a conscious move, but they are certainly not reaching out to include it, and its priorities could get pushed down the list as a result." </s> Washington, June 15 (IANS) U.S. President Donald Trump spoke over phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Iran and bilateral trade.

The two leaders on Friday discussed Abe’s recent trip to Iran, the ongoing U.S.-Japan bilateral trade negotiations and Trump’s upcoming trip to the Group of 20 (G20) Osaka summit in late June, Xinhua reported, citing a White House statement.

“President Trump thanked Abe for his effort to facilitate communication with Iran,” said the statement.

Abe paid a visit to Iran earlier this week, which was the first visit made by a Japanese prime minister since Takeo Fukuda in 1978.

The rare visit aimed at easing tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, however, told Abe on Thursday that it was meaningless to exchange message with Trump, according to Iranian state media.

“While I very much appreciate P.M. Abe going to Iran to meet with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, I personally feel that it is too soon to even think about making a deal. They are not ready, and neither are we!” Trump tweeted on Thursday.

Abe’s visit was also overshadowed by the attacks on two oil tankers in the Sea of Oman on Thursday, with at least one of them operated by a Japanese company.

The Trump administration has claimed that Iran is responsible for the attacks, while Tehran called U.S. allegation as “sabotage diplomacy.” </s> TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday he confirmed in telephone talks with U.S. President Donald Trump that the international community needed to continue to put maximum pressure on North Korea.

Abe also told reporters he hoped to visit the United States as early as next month to meet Trump to discuss North Korea, among other issues.

“We welcome the change in North Korea’s stance”, Abe said, indicating Pyongyang was ready to start discussions on the premise of denuclearisation. </s> Tokyo: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won comfortable re-election as leader of his ruling party Thursday, setting him on course to become Japan’s longest-serving premier and realise his dream of reforming the constitution. The 63-year-old conservative secured 553 votes against 254 won by former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, a hawkish self-confessed “military geek”, in a two-horse race for leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.

The win effectively hands Abe three more years as PM, giving him the chance of breaking the record for the nation’s longest serving premiership held by Taro Katsura, a revered politician who served three times between 1901 and 1913.

Public support for Abe — a political thoroughbred whose grandfather and father both held power — has recovered after he managed to survive a series of cronyism and cover-up scandals. Now reconfirmed in power, Abe will head to New York this weekend to attend the UN General Assembly and hold a summit with US President Donald Trump.

Abe and Trump, who enjoy each other’s company on the golf course and are close diplomatic allies, are expected to analyse the latest inter-Korean summit. But they will also have to confront a growing trade dispute as Trump sees Tokyo among “unfair” trade partners.

While Japanese voters put the economy and social security as their top priorities, Abe aims to use the election to push his dream of reforming the country’s post-World War II pacifist constitution. Nationalist Abe has frequently voiced his wish to rewrite the charter, imposed by the victorious US occupiers, which forces the country to “forever renounce war” and dictates that armed forces will “never be maintained”.

Abe insists any changes would merely remove the country’s well-equipped Self-Defense Forces from the constitutional paradox whereby they should not technically exist. “It’s time to stipulate both the Self-Defense Forces and the protection of Japan’s peace and independence in the constitution,” Abe said in his last stump speech in Tokyo.

But any changes to the text would be hugely sensitive in pacifist Japan and almost certainly greeted with fury in China and the Koreas, 20th-century victims of Japanese military aggression. Even if Abe manages to force a revision through parliament, he would face a referendum, raising the prospect of a Brexit-style political meltdown if the people vote against him, said Yu Uchiyama, political scientist from the University of Tokyo.

In addition, surveys show that tinkering with the legal text is far from top of most Japanese voters’ to-do list, as the country faces an ageing and declining population and a still-sluggish economy. Acknowledging concerns over the economic outlook, Abe said he plans to introduce “bold” stimulus measures to ease the expected impact of a tax hike scheduled for October next year.

Japan’s economy has been expanding for the past few years at a slow pace thanks to the Bank of Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy and huge government spending, which have led to a weak yen — a key positive element for Japanese exporters.

But analysts warned US-led trade wars could be a major risk factor for an economy still struggling to win a long battle against deflation. Local media said Abe plans to reshuffle his cabinet on October 1. However, he is expected to retain Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso, a political ally who has backed his “Abenomics” strategy to stimulate the world’s third-largest economy.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe becomes the first foreign head of government to meet President-elect of the United States Donald Trump since his election as President on November 8.