Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been embroiled in controversy following sexually suggestive remarks while mentioning a melon gifted to him by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Voices are growing within Australian political and diplomatic circles demanding an apology, calling the remarks disrespectful toward the Japanese prime minister.

Prime Minister Albanese introduced the melon gifted by Prime Minister Takaichi during an appearance on comedian Nikki Osborne's podcast, which was released in early July.

When podcast host Osborne made a hand gesture as if holding a melon with both hands, Prime Minister Albanese made a similar hand gesture and remarked, "She brought two melons."

When the host subsequently mentioned the name of female actor Pamela Anderson and asked whether the melons arrived looking like that actor, Prime Minister Albanese replied, "It was beautiful."

In response, Shingo Yamagami, former Japanese ambassador to Australia, criticized Prime Minister Albanese's melon-related remarks in an opinion piece published in the Australian newspaper The Australian on the 10th, calling them rude sexual jokes that were "insulting and frivolous."

Australian opposition leadership and others have also criticized Prime Minister Albanese's remarks as inappropriate and demanded that he apologize to Prime Minister Takaichi.

When asked on the 11th, local time, in the Australian Parliament whether he intended to apologize regarding the matter, Prime Minister Albanese avoided a direct answer, stating, "Prime Minister Takaichi is a friend of Australia and a friend of mine. I will focus on continuing to work together moving forward."

Previously, Prime Minister Albanese drew widespread backlash last month after stating that he wanted to sleep with famous Australian female singer Kylie Minogue, ultimately leading him to issue an apology.

(Reported by Jung Da-eun, Video by Hong Jin-young, Design by Lee Jung-joo, Produced by SBS Digital News)