Abe to head New York on Sunday for UN assembly, talks with Trump
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a five-day visit to New York from Sunday, during which he will attend the U.N. General Assembly session and hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, the top government spokesman said Friday.
Abe is scheduled to have dinner with Trump on Sunday before a formal meeting on Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a regular press briefing.
The Japanese leader is scheduled to deliver a speech at the general debate of the 73rd session of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.
His visit comes after he won re-election as head of the Liberal Democratic Party, setting him on course to become the country's longest-serving prime minister.
After securing a fresh three-year term on Thursday, Abe said he will reshuffle the ruling party's leadership lineup and the Cabinet following the New York trip.
He is expected to return to Japan on Sept. 28.
The U.N. session's annual general debate will begin Tuesday with the international community carefully watching how North Korea will progress on its path to denuclearization following inter-Korea summit talks earlier this week in Pyongyang.
"The visit to New York will serve as a meaningful opportunity to confirm close coordination with the United States and other countries in dealing with common challenges both at the regional and global levels," Suga said.
Japan has been working closely with the United States in trying to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
But trade is seen as a challenge to bilateral ties. Trump, who has taken issue with his country's deficit with Japan, is seeking to correct what he sees as imbalanced trade.
Japan's economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi will hold the second round of high-level talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in the run-up to the Abe-Trump summit.
On Friday, Foreign Minister Taro Kono, who is scheduled to have a weeklong stay in New York through Sept. 28, and his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo spoke by telephone about North Korea, according to government officials.
During the visit, Kono will attend a series of meetings to discuss North Korea's denuclearization and the issue of Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape a military crackdown, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Arrangements are being made for Kono to hold talks with Pompeo and China's top diplomat Wang Yi, according to a government source.
