Japan's national intelligence agency hopes to hold a bilateral summit with North Korea within the year.<br />The newly appointed head of the country's National Security Secretariat ( )Shigeru Kitamura made the remarks in an interview with Asahi Weekly set to be released on October 11th.<br />He added that negotiations between the two sides are currently in the works.<br />Given the organization's confidential nature and closeness with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,... experts see the comments as a sign of the Abe's determination to hold a meeting with Pyeongyang.<br />Abe had previously said in his policy speech that he is determined to sit down with the regime's leader Kim Jong-un with no pre-conditions.<br /><br />
