North Korea will reject any contact with Japan, Kim Jong-un’s sister says

She cited Tokyo’s lack of ‘courage’ for ‘new’ North Korea-Japan ties, including its stance on the abduction issue and North Korea’s military programmes

The decision comes as Japan’s PM Fumio Kishida recently expressed a desire to improve ties, which Pyongyang hinted it is not opposed to

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Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, speaks in Pyongyang. Kim Yo-jong is one of the regime’s key spokespeople. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:51pm, 26 Mar 2024

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister said on Tuesday Pyongyang would reject “any contact or negotiations” with Japan, just a day after she said Tokyo’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had requested a summit with her brother.

Relations between the two countries are historically strained, including by a long-running kidnapping dispute and North Korea’s banned weapons programmes, but Kishida has recently expressed a desire to improve ties, which Pyongyang has hinted it is not opposed to.

Last year, Kishida said he was willing to meet Kim “without any conditions”, saying Tokyo was willing to resolve all issues, including the abduction by North Korean agents of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, which remains an emotive issue in Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a parliamentary session of House of Councillors in Tokyo. Kishida has recently expressed a desire to improve ties, which Pyongyang has hinted it is not opposed to. Photo: AP

Kim Yo-jong – who is one of the regime’s key spokespeople – said on Monday Kishida had requested a summit with Pyongyang’s leader, adding a meeting was unlikely without a policy shift by Tokyo.

But on Tuesday, citing Tokyo’s lack of “courage” for “new” North Korea-Japan relations, including over its stance on the abduction issue and North Korea’s military programmes, Kim Yo-jong said Pyongyang would reject any contact with Japan.

“Our government has clearly understood Japan’s attitude once again, and the conclusion is that we will disregard and refuse any contact or negotiations with the Japanese side,” she said, according to Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency.

“The North Korea-Japan summit meeting is not of interest to us,” she added.