The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida communicated his intention to meet with Kim, a month after she indicated a summit may be possible.

Kishida conveyed through a channel his willingness to meet Kim Jong-un in person as soon as possible, Kim Yo-jong said in a press statement issued Monday via the Korean Central News Agency.

The statement came after Kim’s sister offered a rare olive branch to Japan last month, saying the two countries can open up a new future together if Tokyo makes a “political decision to open up a new way of mending the relations through its courteous behaviour and trustworthy action”.

Kim Yo-jong reiterated in the latest statement that if Japan tries to interfere with North Korea’s exercise of sovereign rights and focuses on the abduction issue, it will inevitably face criticism that it is playing for popularity. 

“The history of the DPRK-Japan relations gives a lesson that it is impossible to improve the bilateral relations full of distrust and misunderstanding, only with an idea to set out on a summit meeting,” Kim said in the statement referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the nation’s official name.

Asked in parliament about the statement, Kishida said he was unaware of the report, but reiterated that he has approached North Korea via various channels.

“It is important to hold a top-level meeting to resolve issues between Japan and North Korea, including the abduction problem, and there have been various approaches to North Korea under my direct control,” Kishida said. “This is what I have been saying all along.”

Kim’s statement likely reflects a deadlock in behind-the-scene communications between the two countries, according to Yang Moo-jin, a professor at University of North Korean Studies, in Seoul.

“North Korea appears to be trying to pressure Japan to make a political decision, which means they aren’t really making tangible progress at their working-level talks,” Yang said. “North Korea is well aware that Japan wants this summit for domestic political reasons.”

It would be difficult for Kishida, whose approval rating remains near a record low, to avoid the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea. The issue has been a high priority for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party for decades.

Tokyo officially lists 17 of its citizens as having been abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s, five of whom returned home in 2002. 

North Korea considers the issue settled and has blasted Japan for repeatedly raising it. North Korea claims that eight of the abductees have died and the other four never entered the country. 

South Korea’s unification and foreign ministries said they did not immediately have a response. President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
 

  - Bloomberg