Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori secretly promised North Korea 500,000 tons of rice aid in 1997 when he visited Pyongyang as the head of a delegation composed of Japan's three then-ruling parties, the head of a small opposition party told Kyodo News on Saturday.
New Socialist Party leader Osamu Yatabe said Mori, then chairman of the General Council of the Liberal Democratic Party, made the promise to several high-ranking North Korean officials.
Yatabe said he was informed of the promise by North Korean officials in July last year when he visited the country.