Japan and North Korea will hold talks in Beijing from Monday, with the focus of discussions likely to be on North Korean demands for compensation for Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
The countries are expected to enter substantial negotiations on normalizing ties over the two days of deliberations after clarifying their basic positions in the last two rounds of talks this year, Japanese government officials said.
"Both sides presented their positions in the previous two rounds of talks and now we must find common points," Foreign Minister Yohei Kono told a news conference Friday. The talks in Beijing will be the 11th session held between the two countries. Japan and North Korea resumed dialogue in April for the first time in 71/2 years, before meeting again in August.