'Fruitful' Japan-North Korea Ties Will Benefit Both Countries: Japanese Premier

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Thursday said his government will continue efforts to hold a summit with North Korea.

"Realizing a fruitful relationship between Japan and North Korea is aligned with the interests of both sides," Kishida said at a news conference in Tokyo.

His remarks came days after North Korea rejected any contact or negotiations with Japan.

Kishida said that Japan will continue efforts to address issues related to North Korea, including the long-standing issue of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Tokyo-based Kyodo News Agency.

North Korea on Tuesday ruled out "any contact or negotiations" with Japan in the future after Tokyo rejected Pyongyang's claim regarding the resolution of a lingering abductees issue.

In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the country's leader Kim Jong-un, had accused Kishida of using bilateral ties for "political calculations."

In 2002, North Korea admitted that it had sent agents to abduct 13 Japanese people in the 1970s and 1980s, pressing them into service training its spies in Japanese language and customs.

This has since remained a major issue in Japan.

Japan's former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid a landmark visit to Pyongyang in 2002 and met Kim's father Kim Jong-il.

His visit led to the return of five Japanese nationals and a follow-up trip by Koizumi, but the diplomacy soon broke down, following Tokyo's claim that Pyongyang was not coming clean about the abduction victims. -