Saturday morning’s Mainichi wrote that freelance journalist Soichiro Tahara told a group of LDP lawmakers on Thursday that he suggested to Prime Minister Abe in July that he “stake his political career on an adventure.” Tahara said that he recommended that Abe visit North Korea and directly propose to Kim Jong Un that the Six-Party Talks be resumed and persuade the U.S., China, and Russia to accept the idea. According to Tahara, Abe agreed with the idea, but the plan was aborted due to opposition from the U.S.