Japan will seek further talks with China and South Korea over the case of five North Koreans whose attempt to seek asylum at a Japanese consulate in China was frustrated by local police, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday.

"There are still differences between the Japanese and Chinese stances," Koizumi said.

The five -- a couple, their 2-year-old daughter, the man's mother and his younger brother -- left China on Wednesday and arrived in Seoul early Thursday via Manila.