N. Korea calls Japan ‘brazen-faced’ for proposing summit

North Korea has blasted Japan for Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono’s recent remarks that urged North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to make “the right decision.” The regime also called the Abe government “brazen-faced” for seeking a summit with Kim without preconditions.

In an interview with the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released Sunday, a spokesperson for North Korea’s Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee slammed Taro Kono’s remarks last month that sanctions would be lifted if the North makes the right judgment and decision. The spokesperson also said that Japan “has been knocking on the door of Pyongyang tenaciously,” but “there is nothing changed in its hostile policy” toward the North.

This is the first time that North Korea has negatively responded to last month’s proposal by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to hold a summit with Kim. Still, Pyongyang has neither directly pointed the finger at Abe nor explicitly turned down Japan’s suggestion.

Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, insisted during a press briefing Monday that he would not comment on every single remark made by North Korea and that the Japanese government’s position for a bilateral meeting with North Korea has not changed.


In-Chan Hwang hic@donga.com