Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's stated intention to visit Pyongyang is the result of a year of assessment by Tokyo of whether North Korea is serious about improving bilateral ties.

Since the attack in the United States on Sept. 11 and President George W. Bush's naming in January of North Korea as part of an "axis of evil," Pyongyang has gradually softened its stance, as evidenced by the release in February of a Japanese journalist who had been detained in North Korea on spying charges.

Pyongyang then proposed in March the resumption of its search for "missing persons." Talks were held in April between the Red Cross societies of the two nations.