Japanese and North Korean intelligence officials secretly met in Mongolia

View of Mongolia's capital Ulan Bator. (Source: Indy guide)

On October 18, informed sources revealed that a top Japanese intelligence official with close ties to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe secretly met with his North Korean counterparts in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator in early October 2018.

The meeting could be in line with Prime Minister Abe's previously announced desire to arrange a summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after he was assured of progress in resolving the issue of Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.

According to the sources, Shigeru Kitamura, head of the Japanese Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, visited Mongolia from October 6 to 8 to meet with North Korean officials, including a senior member of the Central United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea. This department is an intelligence agency that specializes in issues related to South Korea. Previously, Mr. Kitamura also met Ms. Kim Song-hye, head of the United Front Policy Department of the same department, in Vietnam in mid-July.

A senior Japanese government official has acknowledged the meeting, revealing that he heard the two sides discuss how the abduction issue should be resolved between Japan and South Korea.

The latest revelations show that Prime Minister Abe is increasingly relying on secret communications with North Korea, in which intelligence officials are given priority over the Foreign Ministry. This approach is similar to that of US President Donald Trump, who largely entrusted the Central Intelligence Agency to arrange his first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore last June./.