A senior Foreign Ministry official arrived in Beijing on Saturday for talks with North Korean officials to prepare for a meeting between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il scheduled for Sept. 17.

Hitoshi Tanaka, head of the ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, plans to meet with North Korean officials in the Chinese capital, Japanese government officials said.

The officials added that the government has also decided to dispatch officials from the Foreign Ministry and Defense Agency to Pyongyang early this week to make the necessary preparations for the landmark trip, such as the route of the government aircraft bearing Koizumi.

These officials will leave Japan on Monday and arrive in the North Korean capital via Beijing, along with some additional staff from the Japanese embassy in China, on Tuesday, they said. The 14-member team will act as an ad hoc liaison office, they added.