North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has told a senior Chinese official that there are "positive movements" in the relationship between Pyongyang and Tokyo.

Kim made the remark Monday during a meeting with Wang Jiarui, head of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, in Pyongyang, the daily Mainichi Shimbun reported in its Friday morning edition.

North Korea has recently made reconciliatory overtures toward Japan, particularly on the issue of its past abductions of Japanese nationals.