PYONGYANG, Dec. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's Republicof Korea (DPRK) and Japan agreed on Sunday to reopen normalizationtalks as soon as in January after two days of negotiations in Beijing, the DPRK announced in a statement on Monday.

    "Both sides agreed to take measures to liquidate the unfortunate past and solve pending issues to normalize the relations between the two countries at an early date in the spiritof the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration," the statement said.

    The DPRK and Japan plan to resume talks in January 2006 by conducting three panel discussions "on the issues of mutual concern with a view to improving the bilateral relations in all fields", it added.

    The discussions will mainly focus on the diplomatic normalization between the two countries, the abduction issue, and the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs.

    If realized, the January talks would be the two countries' first round of negotiations aimed at normalizing diplomatic ties since the previous such talks held in October 2002 in Kuala Lumpur.

    However, the Japanese government has made it clear that the talks will not achieve substantial progress unless the key abduction issue is solved. Enditem