North Korea says Japan’s Kishida wants to meet Kim Jong Un

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) – North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, on Monday said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had conveyed his intention to meet the North Korean leader, state media reported.

But she said improving relations between the two countries would depend on whether Japan, which occupied the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45, can make practical political decisions.

“The prime minister should know that just because he wants to and has made a decision, it doesn’t mean he can or the leadership of our country will meet him,” Kim was quoted as saying in the KCNA report in Korean.

She was quoted as saying Kishida had made his intention known through “another channel,” without giving details.

“What is clear is that when Japan antagonizes the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and violates its sovereign rights, it is considered our enemy and will become part of the target,” Kim added.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the North’s official name. Relations between the two countries have been strained over disputes dating back to Japan’s occupation.

Koreans accuse Japan of forcing women to work in wartime brothels for the Japanese military and using forced labor, among other issues.

Asked about the media reports on Kim’s comment, Kishida reiterated the importance of a summit to resolve issues such as the matter of Japanese citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang’s agents decades ago.

“Nothing has been decided for now,” Kishida told reporters on Monday when asked about a summit.

North Korea admitted in 2002 to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens decades earlier. Five abductees and their families later returned to Japan and said the others had died.

Tokyo believes 17 Japanese were abducted, however, and continues to investigate the fate of those who did not return, according to Japanese media.

Japan’s top government spokesperson, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said North Korea’s assertion that the abduction issue had been resolved was “totally unacceptable,” underscoring potential obstacles to amending ties.

Kishida has said he wants to hold talks with Kim Jong Un “without any preconditions” and is personally overseeing efforts to realize the first such summit in 20 years.

An official at South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Seoul was in close talks with Tokyo on a range of issues related to North Korea, including contacts between Japan and the North.

“South Korea, the US, and Japan are closely cooperating to bring the North back to the path to denuclearization,” the official said in a statement.

North Korea has long been banned from conducting nuclear tests and ballistic-missile launches by the 15-member UN Security Council. It has been subject to UN sanctions since 2006.

Kim’s sister, who serves in the ruling Workers’ Party, last month said Kishida might one day visit Pyongyang.

“If Japan... makes a political decision to open a new path for improving ties based on mutual respect and respectful behavior, it is my view that the two countries can open a new future,” KCNA quoted her as saying.