Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has requested a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean dictator’s influential sister, said on Monday, AFP reported, citing News.ro and Agerpres.

Fumio “Kishida recently expressed his desire to meet with the chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as soon as possible,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by KCNA news agency. Pyongyang press.

Japan’s prime minister, who said he was unaware of the announcement, told parliament in Tokyo that “it is important to have discussions during the summit with Pyongyang to resolve the disputes.”

Relations between the two countries have been strained over several issues, from Japan’s occupation of the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945 to Pyongyang’s firing of missiles over Japanese territory to the abduction scandal.

In 2002, Pyongyang admitted that it had kidnapped 13 Japanese nationals between 1970 and 1980 to train spies in Japanese language and culture. A month after these confessions, the five were allowed to return to Japan.

Despite this historic conflict, Kishida has said he wants to change relations between Japan and the isolated country, and last year expressed his desire to meet Kim Jong Un “absolutely”, assuring in a speech at the United Nations that Tokyo was determined to resolve all differences, including including regarding kidnappings.

North Korea is sending mixed signals regarding the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit to Pyongyang

In February, Kim Yo Jong, one of the most outspoken figures in the North Korean regime, hinted that the Japanese prime minister might be invited to visit North Korea.

It is “Japan’s political decision of the greatest importance to usher in a new era in North Korea-Japan relations,” she said Monday, urging Tokyo “not to interfere with the exercise of our sovereign rights.”

The abductions remain a deep wound in Japan, and questions remain: Tokyo has reported at least 17 abductees and suspects dozens of other disappearances that North Korean services may have been involved in. Analysts believe the topic could hinder progress toward the Kim-Kisida summit.

The Japanese prime minister “must know that he cannot meet with our leader just because he wants to,” Kim Yo Jong said. “If Japan really wants to improve relations and become a close neighbor to help guarantee peace and stability in the region, it must have the political courage to make strategic choices in accordance with its national interests,” she added.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2001-2006) visited Pyongyang in 2002 for a historic visit and meeting with Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il.

Then he laid the foundations for the normalization of relations with the promise of economic support. The meeting has since authorized a second visit by Koizumi, but diplomatic relations have quickly soured and Tokyo has expressed doubts about Pyongyang’s bona fides over the abductions.