A suprapartisan Diet group headed by former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama will visit North Korea in the second week of June to seek a breakthrough in stalled normalization talks between the two nations, sources close to the group said Thursday.
The group reportedly is ready to offer Japan's willingness to lift its ban on chartered flights between the two countries if Pyongyang responds positively to its demands that various bilateral issues -- such as the alleged abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea and its launch last August of a missile over Japanese territory -- be resolved.
The group had been looking for an ideal time to visit Pyongyang, but has experienced difficulty setting a concrete date for the trip. A March incident involving suspected North Korean spy ships in Japanese waters and heated discussions involving North Korea during Diet debate over Japan-U.S. defense guidelines revisions have hampered moves for an early visit to the country, the sources said.
But group leaders, who no longer want to delay the trip, decided to visit after William Perry, U.S. policy coordinator for North Korea, goes to Pyongyang later this month. Leaders of Murayama's group will convey their decision to its members Tuesday.
The sources also said that although the group has requested to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, a meeting seems unlikely. Japan currently has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, and normalization talks have been stalled since 1992.