Japanese scholars meet with N. Korean officials in Pyongyang

PYONGYANG, Oct. 21 Kyodo - Two Japanese scholars visiting Pyongyang met Tuesday with North Korean Foreign Ministry officials for discussions believed to have covered relations between
the two countries.

Haruki Wada, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, and Tadashi Kimiya,
associate professor at the university's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences,
met with the officials led by Ri Pyong Dok, researcher in charge of Japan at
the North Korean ministry.
The discussions were held at a Pyongyang hotel, but the contents were not
immediately known.
The two scholars arrived in the North Korean capital on Saturday as
representatives of an association promoting relations between Japan and North
Korea.
Ri is involved in working-level talks between the two countries, and
participated in bilateral negotiations held in June and August in China. The
North Korean delegation to those talks was headed by Song Il Ho, ambassador to
talks on normalizing relations with Japan.