Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's scheduled meeting Monday in Seoul with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung comes at a crucial point in Japan's efforts to advance normalization negotiations with North Korea.
Mori will leave for Seoul on Monday morning for a one-day visit and talks with Kim, and Japanese officials see the bilateral summit as a significant opportunity for Tokyo and Seoul to coordinate their policies on Pyongyang ahead of an unprecedented summit next month between the two Koreas.
During their talks, Mori is likely to "encourage President Kim to make the upcoming North-South summit a success," a Foreign Ministry official said.