Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, says the regime will disregard and reject any contact or negotiation with Japan.

In a statement released by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, Kim said Japan does not have the least bit of courage to change history, bring about peace and stability in the region and take the first step of new North Korea-Japan relations.

Kim said in her statement Japan had attempted to table as an agenda the nuclear and missile issues, which she said has nothing to with Tokyo.

Claiming that Japan had  first requested for a North Korea-Japan summit without any preconditions, Kim said such a gathering is of no interest to Pyongyang, as the regime has no wishes to be used as a pawn by the Japanese Prime Minister whose approval ratings are at rock bottom. 

In a statement released on Monday, Kim said Tokyo had conveyed wishes to hold a bilateral summit to which Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida replied that nothing had been decided.