Japan's cabinet minister for the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese people says he welcomes a North Korean diplomat's recent remark that his country intends to continue dialogue with Japan.

Abduction Issue Minister Jin Matsubara referred on Thursday to the remark Song Il Ho, the North Korean diplomat in charge of normalizing ties with Japan, made to reporters in Beijing on Tuesday.

Matsubara told reporters that he thought Song was sending a positive message to Japan in response to his own statements made since coming to office this month. Matsubara noted he has been saying that in order to resolve the abduction issue, it is important not to rule out any kind of possibilities, and to hold all kinds of contact with North Korea.

Source: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120119_22.html

Image credit: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cabinet/20110902_01/24.jpg