North Korea said Monday that Japan was seeking a summit with its leader Kim Jong Un - one day after he told his military to prepare for a potential war amid rising tensions with South Korea and the U.S.
In a statement carried by state media, Kim's sister, senior government official Kim Yo Jong, said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently used an unspecified channel to say he wanted to sit down "as soon as possible," according to the Associated Press.
But Kim Yo Jong said the two countries' first summit since 2004 would be contingent on Japan accepting North Korea's nuclear weapons program and dropping its grievances over the kidnapping of Japanese citizens during the 1970s and '80s.
North Korea and Japan don't maintain diplomatic ties and during a session of the Japanese parliament, Kishida acknowledged using various channels to try to arrange a meeting with Kim.
He said face-to-face talks could be "crucial" to resolving the abduction issue, which is highly emotional for many Japanese.
A government spokesperson late told told reporters that not addressing the subject during any potential meeting was "not acceptable."
Japan has officially recognized 17 kidnappings of its citizens by North Korean agents but estimates have put the number as high as 869.
In 2002, North Korea acknowledged kidnapping 13 Japanese, primarily to train its spies in Japanese language and culture.
Pyongyang allowed five to return to Japan but said the others had died.
Monday's developments followed Kim Jong Un's Sunday supervision of an exercise by the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division, which got its name after becoming the first North Korean unit to reach the South Korean capital of Seoul during the bloody Korean War of the 1950s.
During his visit, Kim reportedly called the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards a model for his military "in the ongoing struggle...for finishing war preparations."
South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Monday that it was in close contact with Japan over potential talks with North Korea and that it, Japan and the U.S. were working to end the North's nuclear weapons program.
