North Korea is reportedly offering to send family members of the five former Japanese abductees to Japan as early as March, it was learned Wednesday.

North Korean officials have told Katsuei Hirasawa, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, they are ready to send the family members to Japan to be reunited with the former abductees by March 20.

It is the first time that Pyongyang has given a specific time frame for allowing the relatives of the five to come to Japan. Hirasawa said the message was recently conveyed to him through a intermediary.

Reuniting the five returnees with their North Korean-born offspring and an American husband has been a top government priority. The five left their families in Pyongyang when North Korea allowed them to visit Japan in 2002.

But Hirasawa said he doubts the credibility of North Korea's offer.

"I believe it is a curve ball being thrown by North Korea," he said.

Hirasawa said Japan should not be influenced by information coming from Pyongyang through unofficial channels.

He believes that North Korea hopes to make a breakthrough by April, when the United States is expected to review the list of nations it considers as supporting terrorism.

Jong Thae Hwa, the chief delegate to the Japan-North Korea normalization talks, reportedly told Hirasawa in Beijing last month that Pyongyang is ready to send the returnees' relatives to Japan on the condition that the returnees come to Pyongyang airport to meet them.

A Foreign Ministry official who handles Japan's policy on North Korea said Pyongyang has not made any proposal for a reunion by March 20.