Next week's second round of normalization talks between Japan and North Korea on establishing diplomatic ties will be held in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture, government sources said Wednesday.
Led by Ambassador Jong Thae Hwa, the North Korean delegation will arrive in Tokyo on Monday, but official events are not scheduled until the following day, the sources said.
On Tuesday, the delegation will pay a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Yohei Kono before joining the Japanese side for the first morning of plenary negotiations in Tokyo.
The North Korean team is scheduled to tour various places in Tokyo in the afternoon and attend a welcoming dinner hosted by Kojiro Takano, who will head the Japanese side as ambassador in charge of the talks.
The two sides will take a one-day break the following day, when the North Korean delegation will go on a sightseeing and inspection tour of Tokyo.
On Aug. 24, the two sides will resume plenary negotiations in Kisarazu city, Chiba Prefecture, and will hold separate press conferences in the afternoon to wrap up the talks, the sources said.
The North Korean delegation will head home the following day.
The two countries held their first round of normalization talks in April in Pyongyang, resuming negotiations that had collapsed in 1992 after eight rounds.