Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday that he hoped his country would eventually have normal relations with North Korea after decades of tension.
North Korea agreed last week to reinvestigate its past kidnappings of Japanese civilians, leading Tokyo to agree to relax some sanctions.
"Our hope is to have a normal relationship with the DPRK," Fukuda said, referring to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Fukuda, speaking ahead of the Group of Eight nations summit from July 7-9, said that the lifting of further sanctions would depend on the actions of North Korea.
"We can lift sanctions depending on their response. That is a possibility that really depends on the other side," Fukuda said.
North Korea admitted in 2002 to kidnapping Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s to train the regime's spies in Japanese language and culture.
It returned five of the abductees and their families, and until last week said that the case was closed.
