Kim Yo Jong, the vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, stated that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had expressed interest in a summit with DPRK leader Kim Jong-un.

She noted that the likelihood of such a meeting occurring depended on Tokyo's policy stance shifting.

"Kishida recently conveyed his wish to meet with the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the earliest date possible," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement reported by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). 

Kishida has expressed his desire to alter the strained dynamic between Tokyo and Pyongyang, indicating his willingness to engage with DPRK's leader unconditionally. He emphasized this stance last year during a speech at the UN General Assembly, stating Japan's readiness to address all matters.

Recently, Kim Yo Jong suggested the potential for extending an invitation to the Japanese leader to visit the DPRK in the future. She emphasized that Japan's political decisions are crucial in shaping a new chapter in DPRK-Japan relations.

The issue of kidnapped Japanese citizens

The kidnapping of Japanese citizens by DPRK agents during the 1970s and 1980s, who were coerced into teaching espionage techniques involving Japanese language and customs, has remained a significant source of dispute.

"If Japan tries to interfere with our exercise of sovereign rights like it does now and is resolutely preoccupied with the kidnapping issue, which we have no way of solving or knowing about, it will inevitably face the reputation that the Prime Minister's plan is nothing more than aimed at drawing popularity," Kim Yo Jong said. 

Kim Yo Jong said that Kishida "must know that he cannot meet our leadership just because he wants or has decided to or that we will grant him such a meeting just because."

"If Japan sincerely wants to improve the relationship between the two and become our close neighbor to contribute to guarantee peace and stability in the region, it needs to have the political courage to make strategic choices befitting to its national interests," she stressed. 

During his tenure in 2002, former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a significant visit to Pyongyang, where he met with Kim Jong Il, the father of Kim Jong Un. This visit aimed to establish a pathway toward normalizing relations between Japan and DPRK, with Japan offering economic aid. As a result of the trip, five Japanese citizens were repatriated, and Koizumi undertook a subsequent visit. However, diplomatic efforts quickly faltered, partly due to Tokyo's apprehensions regarding DPRK's "lack of transparency" concerning the abduction victims.

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