SEOUL - The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rejected the idea of a summit with Japan, saying a meeting cannot be held because Tokyo has “no courage” to take the first step to better relations.

“The DPRK-Japan summit is not a matter of concern to the DPRK,” Ms Kim Yo Jong said in a statement released on March 26 by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), referring to the country by its formal name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

A day earlier, KCNA quoted her as saying Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently communicated his intention to meet the North Korean leader “as soon as possible”.

Mr Kishida has said he is open to a summit with the aim of resolving the longstanding issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea.

Japan’s top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said on March 25 that Tokyo cannot accept Pyongyang’s assertion of the abduction issue being resolved, adding that there was no change in policy for “reaching a comprehensive resolution to the abduction, missile and nuclear problems”.

Ms Kim appears to have picked up on the comments.

“The DPRK government has clearly understood once again the attitude of Japan and, accordingly, the DPRK side will pay no attention to and reject any contact and negotiations with the Japanese side,” KCNA quoted her as saying.

The statements by Ms Kim appear to be a calculated attempt to raise Pyongyang’s profile and perhaps drive wedges between the United States and its allies in Asia ahead of major political events.

On April 10, South Korea holds nationwide elections for Parliament and on the same day, Mr Kishida is due to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington for talks focused on security threats, including North Korea’s nuclear weapons arsenal.

While North Korea appeared to be offering openings to Japan, it has widened a chasm between itself and Seoul.

Mr Kim in February said he has the legal right to annihilate South Korea, threatening his neighbour after starting the year by eliminating the concept of peaceful unification from his state’s national policy.

North Korea has been under pressure as South Korea, Japan and the US have raised their cooperation to new levels over the past two years and stepped up military training against threats posed by Pyongyang.

The US has also been bringing nuclear-capable military assets such as aircraft carrier groups and attack submarines close to the Korean peninsula in shows of force meant to deter Mr Kim from aggression.

The North Korean leader, meanwhile, appears to be getting support for his sanctions-hit economy from Russia in exchange for providing President Vladimir Putin with massive amounts of munitions for his war on Ukraine.

While North Korea has floated the idea of a summit in its official media, it also has a habit of seeking concessions for engagement with countries it sees as adversaries, such as Japan.

It would be difficult for Mr Kishida to offer any incentives to North Korea, especially as Tokyo has demanded a resolution to the abductee issue and been a steadfast supporter of global sanctions to punish Pyongyang for its tests of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.

“It was difficult to find a middle ground for the two sides from the beginning,” said Professor Park Won-gon at South Korea’s Ewha Womans University.

In 2002, Mr Junichiro Koizumi became the first Japanese prime minister to visit North Korea.

Soon after that, five Japanese kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1978 were reunited with their families after arriving in Tokyo.

Mr Koizumi and then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il agreed to work to establish formal diplomatic relations, but that never came to fruition.

Tokyo officially lists 17 of its citizens as having been abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.

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

The return of any more abductees would provide a boost for Mr Kishida, whose public support has sagged to lows that have prompted speculation over whether he could be replaced in a party leadership election in September or sooner. 

Ms Kim, who has been the face of Pyongyang’s pressure campaign against Seoul, in February offered a rare olive branch to Tokyo by saying she saw a positive tone in comments from Mr Kishida.

She said then that a meeting would be possible if Japan “does not lay such a stumbling block as the already settled abduction issue”.

But on March 26, her tone had changed.

“Japan has no courage to change history, promote regional peace and stability and take the first step for the fresh DPRK-Japan relations,” KCNA quoted her as saying. BLOOMBERG