The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is making efforts to implement the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration and to resolve the outstanding issues between the two countries under the spirit of the recent DPRK-Japan summit, a DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

The DPRK has noted a series of "practical and constructive" moves taken by the Japanese following Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the country last month, the spokesman told the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"It is the DPRK's stand to remain true to the spirit of the DPRK-Japan summit meeting and materialize it. The DPRK is doing the necessary work to implement the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration and advance the matters discussed between the two sides," the spokesman added.

At a summit on May 22, Koizumi and DPRK leader Kim Jong Il exchanged views on a wide range of issues, including implementation of the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration and restoration of "relations of confidence" between the two countries.

It was the second summit between the two leaders since they met in Pyongyang in September 2002 when Koizumi paid a landmark visit to the DPRK and signed the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration.

The two sides agreed in the declaration to resolve issues impairing the normalization of their bilateral relations such as the abduction of Japanese and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

The DPRK appreciated a congratulatory message sent by Koizumi to the 20th Congress of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan in which he expressed his intention to make utmost efforts to normalize the Japan-DPRK ties, the spokesman said.

Japan and the DPRK have yet to establish diplomatic relations.

Source: Xinhua