Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka expressed willingness Monday to resume talks with Pyongyang toward normalizing relations between Japan and North Korea.
His motion reflected Japan's optimistic attitude toward progress made in a round of talks Monday between the United States and North Korea about Pyongyang's missile program. North Korea agreed Sunday, after six days of talks with the U.S. at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, not to go ahead with a possible plan to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile as long as the two sides continue their dialogue.
Speaking at a regular news conference, the government's chief spokesman said that he is pinning hope on a nonpartisan delegation of Japanese legislators to North Korea to pave the way for resuming the halted normalization talks.