Japan, DPRK Set Time for First Normalization Talks

Japan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have agreed to hold their first round of negotiations on normalizing diplomatic ties in Pyongyang on April 4-8, Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said Wednesday.

Kono unveiled the agreement on the negotiation timetable at a press conference.

Kyodo News quoted a senior government official as saying that the two countries had been working on the timetable since they announced on March 7 their agreement to launch normalization talks sometime before mid-April in Pyongyang.

The two sides also agreed to hold the second round in Tokyo and the third in Beijing or another country, the official said.

Kojiro Takano, ambassador in charge of normalization talks with the DPRK, will lead the Japanese side, the official said.

The two sides are unlikely to have substantive discussions at the first "getting-acquainted" session. Instead, they will try to set the agenda for following sessions by reviewing the latest developments involving the two nations and refreshing the four major issues they took up in the past negotiations, the official said.

The four issues include relations between the DPRK and South Korea, compensation issues related to Japan's 1941-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, international issues such as nuclear development and other bilateral problems.

Previous talks between the two countries on normalizing ties began in January 1991, but collapsed after eight rounds in November 1992.

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