In his first policy speech to the Japanese legislature, Japan’s new prime minister Fumio Kishida criticized North Korea’s nuclear and missile development as “absolutely unacceptable,” pledging as a leader from Hiroshima to work toward a “world without nuclear weapons.”

The new prime minister, who took office on Monday, also repeated his pledge to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to resolve the abduction issue that has long foiled efforts to improve bilateral ties.

“Based on the Pyongyang Declaration between Japan and North Korea, we aim to achieve normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea by