DPRK, Japan start bilateral talks in Beijing
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-02-04 16:26

Negotiators from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Japan met in Beijing Saturday afternoon for a new round of talks to discuss issues regarding normalization of diplomatic ties.

An official from the Japanese embassy in China said that the Japanese delegation is headed by Koichi Haraguchi, Japan's chief delegate for the normalization talks with the DPRK.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a DPRK government delegation led by Song Il Ho, ambassador in charge of DPRK-Japan talks under the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, left Pyongyang earlier Saturday for Beijing to attend the talks.

Media report said that the current round of talks is expected to last about five days.

This new round of inter-governmental talks was held after more than three years of interval. The previous round of talks was held in Malaysia in 2002.

Previously, the two countries held meeting in Beijing from December 24 to 25 last year, during which they agreed to set up three working groups on history, security guarantee and abduction issues.