Japan said on Thursday it would take up the issue of North Korea's suspected development of biological and chemical weapons in future talks on establishing diplomatic ties between the historic foes.
In the latest round of full-scale talks in Malaysia last month, Japan pressed Pyongyang to scrap a nuclear weapons program which North Korean officials had admitted to James Kelly, the top U.S. negotiator for North Korea.
Quoting an unspecified Japanese government official, Japanese media said Thursday that North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju had told Kelly that Pyongyang possessed biological as well as chemical weapons.