In a statement published by the KCNA news agency on February 15, Ms. Kim Yo-jong, a senior official in the Korean Workers' Party, said that issues related to the past detention of Japanese by North Korea have been resolved.
She stressed that Prime Minister Kishida's visit could only take place if this issue was not seen as an obstacle to bilateral relations.
Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
Japan and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic relations. In a recent statement, Prime Minister Kishida said he was considering the possibility of meeting leader Kim Jong-un to resolve the issue of civilians abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.
Kim Jong-un's sister said the Japanese Prime Minister's remarks could be seen as a positive thing if they were aimed at developing bilateral relations. "If Japan makes a political decision to open a new path for improving relations based on mutual respect and respectful behavior, I think the two countries can open a new future," Kim Yo-jong said.
However, Ms. Kim emphasized that this was only her personal observation and that as far as she knew, the North Korean leader had no specific plans regarding relations with Japan and had no intention of contacting Tokyo.
Japan is one of the countries that strongly criticizes North Korea's policy of developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. In turn, Tokyo has also been criticized by Pyongyang because of its alliance with the United States and security cooperation with South Korea.
According to Yonhap, on February 14, Mr. Kim Jong-un supervised the test launch of North Korea's new land-to-sea missile, the Padasuri-6. The missile flew for about 23 minutes and 20 seconds and hit its target. A day earlier, the South Korean military announced that it had detected North Korea launching multiple cruise missiles from the eastern port city of Wonsan.
Also in the above event, Mr. Kim ordered the force to use force against South Korean ships if they discovered North Korean waters were being violated.
Source link
Comment (0)