Japanese and North Korean intelligence officials secretly met in Mongolia.

A view of Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia. (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 Ulan Bator, Mongolia, in early October 2018.

This meeting may align with Prime Minister Abe's previously announced desire to arrange a summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after he received assurances of progress in resolving the issue of Pyongyang's abduction of Japanese hostages in the 1970s and 1980s.

According to these sources, Shigeru Kitamura, head of the Cabinet Office of Intelligence and Research of Japan, visited Mongolia from October 6-8 to meet with North Korean officials, including a high-ranking figure from the Central United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea. This department is an intelligence agency specializing in matters related to South Korea. Prior to this, Mr. Kitamura had also met with Kim Song-hye, head of the United Front Policy Department of the same agency, in Vietnam in mid-July.

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

This latest revelation shows that Prime Minister Abe is increasingly relying on secret contacts 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 tasked the Central Intelligence Agency with arranging his first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore last June.