Japan might accept North Korea settling the dispute over its nuclear program before resolving other major issues of concern to Tokyo, a Foreign Ministry official said Friday.
The issues of importance to Japan are the abduction of Japanese nationals to North Korea and missile development by the reclusive state.
The government has said that it needs to see a comprehensive resolution on all three of these issues before it can normalize diplomatic ties with North Korea and provide economic aid.
The official's remark indicates a shift in Japan's stance on North Korea.
"It may be difficult to resolve the abduction issue if the topic of nuclear development cannot be resolved," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The official said Japan would not sign any agreement during the next round of six-nation talks, expected to take place in mid-December, if there is a clause that requires Japan to provide economic assistance, including rice, before the abduction issue is fully resolved. The abduction issue must be resolved first, he said.
The six nations are North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
He did not rule out the possibility of providing heavy oil as part of a Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) project that is aimed at building light-water reactors under a 1994 deal between the U.S. and North Korea.