SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida offered to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “as soon as possible,” but stressed that prospects for their countries’ first summit in about 20 years would depend on Tokyo tolerating its weapons program and ignoring its past abductions of Japanese nationals.
Kishida said later Monday that a meeting with Kim is “crucial” to resolve the abduction issue, a major sticking point in bilateral ties, and that his government has been using various channels to discuss the possible summit.
Observers say Kim wants improved ties with Japan as a way to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its allies, while Kishida wants to use possible progress in the abduction issue to boost his declining approval rating at home. But they say it would be highly unlikely for a Kim-Kishida summit to happen anytime soon because North Korea has set preconditions that Japan can’t accept.
Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, said in a statement that Kishida recently used an unspecified channel to convey his position that he wants to meet Kim Jong Un in person “as soon as possible.”
She said there will be no breakthrough in North Korea-Japan relations as long as Kishida’s government is engrossed in the abduction issue and interferes in the North’s “exercise of our sovereign right,” apparently referring to the North’s weapons testing activities.
“The history of the DPRK-Japan relations gives a lesson that it is impossible to improve the bilateral relations full of distrust and misunderstanding, only with an idea to set out on a summit meeting,” Kim Yo Jong said, using the abbreviation of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“If Japan truly wants to improve the bilateral relations and contribute to ensuring regional peace and stability as a close neighbor of the DPRK, it is necessary for it to make a political decision for a strategic option conformed to its overall interests,” she said.
In February, Kim Yo Jong issued a similar statement, saying North Korea was open to inviting Kishida to Pyongyang but that it would only be possible if Tokyo stopped taking issue with North Korea’s legitimate right to self-defense and the abduction issue.
North Korea and Japan don’t have diplomatic ties, and their relations have been overshadowed by North Korea’s nuclear program, the abduction issue and Japan’s 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Japan’s colonial wrongdoing is a source of on-again, off-again wrangling between Tokyo and Seoul, as well.
After years of denial, North Korea acknowledged in an unprecedented 2002 summit between Kim Jong Il, the late father of Kim Jong Un, and then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese, mainly to train spies in Japanese language and culture. It allowed five of them to return to Japan that year, but said the others had died. Japan thinks at least some of them may still be alive, and believes hundreds more may also have been abducted.
In 2004, Koizumi made a second visit to North Korea and met Kim Jong Il again. That was the last summit between the leaders of the two countries.
Talk of a possible North Korea-Japan summit comes amid concerns that North Korea could further intensify its weapons testing activities in what is an election year both in the U.S. and South Korea. Experts say North Korea would aim to use an enlarged weapons arsenal to win concessions from the U.S. such as sanctions relief.
“While North Korea may be waiting out elections in South Korea and the United States before reengaging those countries in diplomacy, it probably wants to strengthen its hand by developing weapons and driving wedges between U.S. allies,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “Kishida feels political urgency to address the abductions issue and is thus showing diplomatic effort.”
The impoverished North also likely thinks about possible Japanese economic assistance it could receive if the two countries normalized their ties, said analyst Moon Seong Mook with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. He said North Korea could seek the current value of the Japanese assistance that South Korea received when those two countries normalized their ties in 1965 — $500 million — or more.
Moon said Kishida won’t likely make concessions on the abduction issue or North Korea’s nuclear program in defiance of public sentiments and U.N. resolutions, respectively. Easley said a Kim-Kishida summit is unlikely because Pyongyang appears unwilling to address its historical kidnapping of Japanese citizens and Tokyo is unable to relax sanctions on North Korea.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Monday it was closely communicating with Japan on Tokyo-Pyongyang contacts and the North Korean nuclear issue. It said that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are working closely together to return North Korea to a path of denuclearization.
North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile arsenals pose a major security threat to Japan as well as South Korea and the United States. The three countries have expanded their trilateral training exercises in response to the North’s provocative run of weapons tests since 2022. Japan and South Korea are two of America’s key allies in the region, together hosting about 80,000 U.S. troops in their territories.
Earlier Monday, North Korea’s state media reported that Kim Jong Un supervised a tank exercise and encouraged his armored forces to sharpen war preparations in the face of growing tensions with South Korea.
While most analysts doubt Kim is genuinely preparing for war, South Korean officials have raised the possibility of smaller provocations in border regions, including the disputed western sea boundary between the Koreas that has been the site of bloody skirmishes in past years.
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Associated Press journalist Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, has recently expressed his willingness to meet with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, in the near future. This surprising announcement comes at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula and could potentially mark a significant step towards improving relations between the two countries.
According to North Korea’s state media, Suga made the offer during a recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly. In his address, he emphasized the importance of dialogue and diplomacy in resolving the longstanding issues between Japan and North Korea. Suga’s willingness to engage in direct talks with Kim Jong Un is seen as a bold move that could potentially pave the way for a breakthrough in the strained relations between the two countries.
The prospect of a meeting between Suga and Kim Jong Un has sparked both hope and skepticism among experts and analysts. Some see it as a positive development that could lead to a thaw in relations and possibly even a resolution of long-standing issues such as North Korea’s nuclear program and the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents in the past. Others, however, remain cautious, pointing out that previous attempts at dialogue with North Korea have often ended in disappointment.
Despite the challenges and uncertainties surrounding a potential meeting between Suga and Kim Jong Un, many believe that it is a step in the right direction. Diplomatic engagement and dialogue are crucial in addressing the complex issues that have long divided Japan and North Korea. By offering to meet with Kim Jong Un, Suga is signaling his commitment to finding peaceful solutions to these issues and his willingness to take bold steps towards reconciliation.
It remains to be seen whether Kim Jong Un will accept Suga’s offer and agree to a meeting. The North Korean leader has been known for his unpredictable behavior and has often used brinkmanship tactics in dealing with foreign leaders. However, if both sides are willing to engage in constructive dialogue and show a genuine commitment to resolving their differences, there is a possibility that a meeting between Suga and Kim Jong Un could lead to positive outcomes for both countries.
In conclusion, Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s offer to meet with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un is a significant development that could potentially open up new opportunities for dialogue and diplomacy between the two countries. While there are challenges and uncertainties ahead, the willingness of both leaders to engage in direct talks is a positive step towards building trust and finding peaceful solutions to the longstanding issues that have divided Japan and North Korea for decades.
