BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Negotiators from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Japan continued their talks here Monday, focusing on normalizing diplomatic ties.

    Song Il Ho, ambassador in charge of the DPRK-Japan talks under the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters at a Beijing hotel before joining in the talks that the two sides will discuss the history issue during Monday's talks as scheduled.

    Song said the settlement of the history issue is not of temporary nature and should be solved through a historical and moral point of view.

    The DPRK side would like to confirm whether Japan has the will to settle this issue, Song said.

    According to Song, Monday's discussion mainly covers such issues as economic cooperation, status of the ethnic Koreans in Japan, and the return of cultural assets.

    Song's Japanese counterpart in the talks Koichi Haraguchi, Japanese ambassador responsible for the Japan-DPRK normalization talks, said the settlement of the history issue is an area that the DPRK has major expectations on, but this could only be solved within the framework of the normalization of bilateral diplomatic relations. It would be very difficult to normalize diplomatic ties without a solution to the abduction issue.

    Economic cooperation can be realized only when ties are actually normalized -- a process which still faces major stumbling blocks ahead, Haraguchi said.

    Japan will convey all the messages fully to the DPRK side, he said, adding that the Japanese side hoped that DPRK's further understanding of its proposals could contribute positively to the talks,

    The ongoing inter-governmental talks are picked up in the Chinese capital Saturday. The two sides had a previous round of similar talks in Malaysia in 2002.

    A three-track format was used this time to cover such topics as the abduction issue, normalization of diplomatic ties, and the security issue. Each of the three topics will be given one day for discussion.

    Kim Chol Ho and Kunio Umeda, chief delegates from the DPRK and Japan to the bilateral panel specializing in the abduction issue, met on Sunday to air their opinions and stances. Both sides agreed to continue the talks on this issue.

    Tadamichi Yamamoto, Japanese ambassador in charge of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, and Jong Thae Yang, deputy chief of the DPRK Foreign Ministry's U.S. affairs department, will meet on Tuesday to discuss the nuclear and missile problem.

    The DPRK and Japan have not decided yet whether to carry on the talks when the three panels finish their respective talks.

    Prior to the current round, the two countries held a meeting in Beijing on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 of 2005, during which they agreed to set up three working groups on history, security guarantee and abduction issues to push forward the normalization of diplomatic relationship. Enditem