There is a 50-50 possibility that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit North Korea again before he leaves office next September, Taku Yamasaki, former vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party, said Sunday.
"The third visit (of the prime minister) to North Korea will be realized on the occasion of the signing ceremony to mark normalization (of relations) between the two countries," Yamasaki said on a TV political talk show. "The possibility (of the visit) is 50-50."
Koizumi has visited Pyongyang twice since becoming prime minister in 2001.
Referring to Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who advocates a flexible as well as a hardline approach toward Pyongyang, Yamasaki said bilateral issues will not be solved through hardline policies alone.
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