Kim Jong Un’s sister says North Korea not interested in summit with Japan

North Korea said on Tuesday (March 26) that it is not interested in a summit with Japan and would reject any talks, according to state media KCNA, potentially worsening already-hostile relations between the two countries.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, stated that Japan had requested a summit without preconditions, which she would only embrace if Japan demonstrated readiness to a fresh beginning unfettered by past obsessions.

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Bilateral ties have been tense due to various issues, including the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea in the early 2000s, Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945, and its history of forced labour and sexual slavery.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida refused to directly respond to Kim's comments, telling reporters late on Tuesday that Japan would continue its efforts to resolve issues with North Korea based on existing policies.

After Japan brought up the subject of the kidnapped Japanese nationals and Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes, Kim declared that Tokyo had "no courage at all" to alter history.

In a statement made public by KCNA, Kim stated, "This is proven by Japan's attitude clinging to the unattainable issues which can never be settled and have nothing to be settled."

She singled out remarks by Japan's top government spokesperson, Yoshimasa Hayashi, that the North's claim that the abduction issue had been resolved was "totally unacceptable."

North Korea admitted in 2002 to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens decades earlier. Five abductees later returned to Japan, saying the others had died.

In 2002, North Korea acknowledged that it had abducted 13 Japanese nationals decades earlier. Later, five of the abductees returned to Japan, claiming that others had died.

However, Tokyo maintains its belief that 17 Japanese were kidnapped and keeps looking into what happened to those who did not return.

Accusing Kishida of using bilateral ties as "political calculations," Kim said her country would reject any talks with Tokyo.

(With inputs from agencies)