A government official close to Jin Matsubara, the minister in charge of addressing the abduction of Japanese by North Korea, has sent a message to Pyongyang seeking talks with officials of the Workers' Party of Korea, according to sources.
The message was delivered through a member of the assembly in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, who visited North Korea last week, but officials there withheld response, saying Pyongyang wants to watch carefully the Japanese government's attitude, including that of Matsubara, the sources said Friday.
The Shibuya assembly member arrived in North Korea on Tuesday for a three-day visit as part of a delegation of local Japanese assembly representatives, and met four times with Hwang Ho Nam, an official of North Korea's Association for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, they said.
Hwang served as interpreter in the meetings held in 2002 and 2004 between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang.
The message relayed by the ward assembly member expressed the willingness to go anywhere, including to North Korea, for talks if it will lead to resolving the abduction dispute, the sources said.
The North Korean side expressed willingness to meet with anyone who seriously wants to break the deadlock in relations between Japan and North Korea but noted that Matsubara has a hardline attitude toward the reclusive country, they said.