Taku Yamasaki, former vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Monday he asked South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong Young to understand Japan's intention to take up the abduction issue at the upcoming six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear programs.
He also quoted Chung as saying at their meeting Sunday evening in Seoul that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il showed strong willingness to normalize ties with Japan at their recent meeting in Pyongyang.
Yamasaki told reporters he would brief Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the meeting Tuesday.