North Speaking in Whispers to Japan

North Korea and Japan made secretive contact for the first time since the death of Kim Jong Il on the 9th, according to someone in the Japanese prime minister’s office cited by Japanese news agency Kyodo today.

Experienced political figures Hiroshi Nakai, former head of Japanese efforts on the abductees issue, and Song Il Ho for the North Korean side reportedly met in eastern China and discussed the abductees issue.

The meeting was apparently scheduled to last two days but could be extended, the source suggested. Prior to Monday’s talks, dialogue between the two governments had been in a slump since August, 2008.