The government plans to invite North Korean officials to Japan to receive updates and seek more information about Pyongyang's promised reinvestigation of the whereabouts of Japanese nationals it abducted decades ago, a government source said Sunday.

Japan hopes to move forward on the long-stalled abduction issue by having North Korean officials come to Japan and by sending Japanese officials, including diplomats and members of the National Police Agency, to North Korea, the source said.

With the planned move to invite North Korean officials here, the two sides may hold working-level talks later this month in Tokyo, a source familiar with the matter said, adding such a development will likely take place after Pyongyang begins its full-scale investigation and Japan eases its sanctions on North Korea.