SEOUL — North Korean senior official Kim Yo Jong rejected Japan's proposal for its prime minister to meet with Kim Jong Un in a recent statement. Kim Yo Jong is the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"I don't want to see the prime minister of Japan coming to Pyongyang," said Kim Yo Jong. "In order for the top leaders of the two countries to meet each other, Japan should first be determined to break with its anachronistic practice and habit."

"But this is not the one that comes true, as wanted or decided by Japan," said Kim Yo Jong. Kim Yo Jong said her rejection was just her personal position.

The statement follows diplomatic efforts by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who told reporters she had informed U.S. President Donald Trump during a summit in Washington that she had a very strong desire to meet Kim Jong Un. Kim Yo Jong did not explicitly define what she meant by Japan's "anachronistic practice and habit."

In 2024, Kim Yo Jong said North Korea's acceptance of a reported meeting offer by one of Takaichi's predecessors would depend on Japan tolerating North Korea's nuclear weapons program and ignoring its past abductions of Japanese nationals. The proposed meeting offered by one of Takaichi's predecessors did not occur.

The Japanese government wants to resolve the cases of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea during the 1970s and 1980s. North Korea acknowledged in a 2002 summit between Kim Jong Il and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese nationals. North Korea allowed five of the kidnapped Japanese nationals to return to Japan.

Junichiro Koizumi made a second visit to North Korea in 2004 and met Kim Jong Il during that visit. 2004 was the last time North Korea and Japan held talks.

Donald Trump met Kim Jong Un three times between 2018 and 2019 and has repeatedly expressed his intention of resuming dialogue with Kim Jong Un. North Korea has refused to return to diplomacy with the U.S. and South Korea since 2019.