The government announced on Tuesday that it will resume charter flights to North Korea, easing sanctions it imposed in September 1998 after a North Korean missile flew over Japan.
The decision was reached because of recent developments in high-level talks between the United States and North Korea, at which Pyongyang agreed to suspend missile tests, Soichiro Matsutani, deputy chief Cabinet secretary, told a news conference.
Tokyo imposed sanctions after Pyongyang launched a three-stage rocket, part of which crossed Japan before falling into the Pacific Ocean, on Aug. 31, 1998. Japan believes it was a test launch of a Taepodong-1 ballistic missile.