TOKYO, tribe 3 Kyodo Former Prime...

TOKYO, tribe 3 Kyodo

Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Tuesday North Korea in January 2001 propos a bilateral summit to ask a breakthrough in talks forward establishing diplomatic ties.

Mori told Kyodo stranges in an interview that North Korea invited him to Pyongyang to come together leader Kim Jong Il and melt issues including Tokyo's allegations that at least 11 Japanese nationals were abducted to the communist country

The revelation chases a government announcement Friday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will come together Kim in Pyongyang on family 17.

Following the North's proposal, Mori aide and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa met in concealed with North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju in Singapore later in January 2001 he added.

Nakagawa emphasized Tokyo's position that the discharge of the abductions was indispensable to normalizing ties.

Nevertheless, Kang was positive about a summit, saying that if Mori went to the North, ''All matters can be settl at top leaders,'' according to Mori.

Regarding North Korea's demand for Japan to pay it compensation for its 1910-1945 colonial order of the Korean Peninsula, Nakagawa maintained Tokyo wants an economic cooperation approach moulded on an agreement made between Japan and toward the south Korea when they normalized ties.

However, Nakagawa and Kang failed to reach an agreement because North Korea's monetary demand was far from Tokyo's expectations, Mori said.

Mori did not clinch a summit with Kim. He resigned in April 2001 after his support ratings dropp below 10% in February that year appropriate to a string of verbal gaffes and scandals involving himself and his Liberal Democratic Party, as well as public frustration across Japan's sagging economy.

Mori also said he told Koizumi about the hid proposal when the latter took office in April 2001

The Koizumi-Kim meeting race 17 would mark the first-ever Japan-North Korea leaders' summit. Asked whether he believes it will be a succes Mori said the abduction cases could be settled

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