Japan’s new foreign minister says his nation will engage in dialogue with North Korea within the six-way nuclear framework if Pyongyang reverses its current course.

Katsuya Okada made the comment during a news briefing late Wednesday in Tokyo. He said that Japan aims to prompt North Korean change by strengthening sanctions against the communist state.

Okada, however, stressed that Tokyo currently has no plans to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang, as the communist state has rejected Japan’s proposal to reinvestigate the issue of Japanese abductees in the North and has conducted missile launches and nuclear tests.