A ranking North Korean diplomat said Tuesday that whether his country and Japan can improve their relations hinges on the fate of Pyongyang's de facto embassy building in Tokyo.

"Without resolving this issue, there is no need to make progress on Korea-Japan relations," Song Il Ho, North Korea's ambassador for talks on normalizing ties with Japan, told reporters at Beijing Capital International Airport before flying back to Pyongyang.

Song, who took part in a two-day meeting with Japanese diplomats through Monday in the Chinese capital, was referring to the possibility that the pro-North Korean group Chongryon will be evicted from its Tokyo headquarters, which is the closest thing Pyongyang has to an embassy in Japan.