Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato agreed Tuesday to cooperate on integrating North Korea into the international community.
The two leaders discussed recent changes in North Korea's diplomatic policy in a meeting in Rome and agreed on the importance of engaging the country in dialogue with the rest of the world, a Japanese official told a news briefing.
"There is a noteworthy change in the trend" in North Korea's policy, the official quoted Mori as saying in the meeting. "Japan, in cooperation with the United States and South Korea, will make efforts so that this trend leads to an easing of tension" on the Korean Peninsula.
Amato said it was important for countries to gradually improve their ties with North Korea so it could be welcomed into the international community.