Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, arrives at the Vostochny Сosmodrome, Russia. Photo: Reuter
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister said on Thursday her country would be open to improving ties with Tokyo, even hinting at a possible future invitation to Pyongyang for Japan's leader.
Kim Yo Jong's comments came after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last week that he felt a "strong need" to change the current relationship between Tokyo and Pyongyang.
"I think there would be no reason not to appreciate his recent speech as a positive one, if it was prompted by his real intention to boldly free himself from the past fetters," Kim said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim said the two countries "can open up a new future together" depending on Tokyo's actions, including moving on from the long-running matter of North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.
"There will be no reason for the two countries not to become close and the day of the prime minister's Pyongyang visit might come," she added.
The abductions remain a potent and emotional issue in Japan.
North Korea admitted in 2002 that it had dispatched agents to kidnap 13 Japanese people in the 1970s and 1980s, pressing them into service training its spies in Japanese language and customs.
But suspicions persist in Japan that many more of its citizens were abducted than have been officially recognised.
In a speech at the UN General Assembly last year, Kishida expressed his wish to meet with North Korea's leader "without any conditions", saying that Tokyo was willing to resolve all issues, including the kidnappings.
Japan's former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi paid a landmark visit to Pyongyang while in office in 2002, meeting Kim's father Kim Jong Il and setting out a path to normalise relations in which Japan would offer economic assistance.
The trip led to the return of five Japanese nationals and a follow-up trip by Koizumi, but the diplomacy soon broke down, in part over Tokyo's concern that North Korea was not coming clean about the abduction victims.
Source: AP
北韓領導人的妹妹金與正表示，日本首相的言論對於開啟新的未來是正面的
北韓領導人金正恩的妹妹週四表示，北韓將對改善與東京的關係持開放態度，甚至暗示未來可能邀請日本領導人訪問平壤。
在金與正發表此番言論之前，日本首相岸田文雄上週表示，他感到「強烈需要」改變東京和平壤之間目前的關係。
金正恩在朝鮮中央通訊社發表的聲明中表示：“我認為，如果他的真正意圖是大膽擺脫過去的束縛，那麼他最近的講話就沒有理由不被視為積極的講話。” 。
金正恩表示，兩國“可以共同開闢新的未來”，這取決於東京的行動，包括擺脫北韓在 1970 年代和 1980 年代綁架日本公民的長期問題。
她補充說：“兩國沒有理由不走近，首相訪問平壤的日子可能會到來。”
綁架事件在日本仍然是一個嚴重且令人情緒激動的問題。
北韓在2002年承認，它曾在1970年代和1980年代派出特工綁架了13名日本人，迫使他們接受日語和習俗的訓練。
但日本國內仍存在懷疑，認為被綁架的日本公民比官方承認的還要多。
去年，岸田在聯合國大會上發表演說時表示，希望「無條件」會見北韓領導人，並表示東京願意解決包括綁架在內的所有問題。
2002年，日本前首相小泉純一郎在任期間對平壤進行了具有里程碑意義的訪問，會見了金正日的父親金正日，並製定了一條日本將提供經濟援助的關係正常化之路。
這次訪問導致五名日本國民回國，小泉也進行了後續訪問，但外交很快就破裂了，部分原因是東京擔心北韓沒有坦白綁架受害者的情況。 （法新社）
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