North Korea appears to have rebuffed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stated interest in a bilateral summit.

During a Sunday interview with state media channel Korean Central News Agency, a spokesperson for North Korea's Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee denounced Tokyo’s overture as a "brazen-faced" move.

The spokesperson chided Abe and his officials for saying a summit with Pyongyang could be had without preconditions while at the same time calling for stronger sanctions against the North.

The spokesperson also maligned Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, who remarked recently that sanctions against the North would only be lifted if Pyongyang makes “the right decision.”

Last month, Abe offered to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to resolve the issue of Japanese abductees, adding he would do so with no pre-conditions and would have a candid, heart-to-heart conversation with him.

The proposition may be influenced by the fact that Japan is the only country in the Korean Peninsula region and member of the long-stalled six-party talks that has yet to have a summit with the North Korean leader.

[Photo : YONHAP News]