DPRK official meets with advisor to Japanese PM

Kim Yong Il, a senior official of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), held talks with a visiting advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday to discuss relations between the DPRK and Japan. Kim, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, held a meeting with Isao Iijima, special counselor in charge of crisis management in Abe's Cabinet, and his companion, the official news agency KCNA reported without giving more details. Iijima was also a top advisor to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who visited Pyongyang for talks with then DPRK leader Kim Jong Il in September 2002 and May 2004. On Tuesday, an official from the DPRK's Foreign Ministry welcomed Iijima at Pyongyang airport, according to Japan's Kyodo News Agency. The KCNA did not give more details on Iijima's unannounced trip, which sparked wide international speculation. The DPRK and Japan have no diplomatic relations. Senior officials from the two countries held talks on ties in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator last November.