The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed on Saturday to let five family members of Japan abductees go to Japan, Japanese officials said.

The agreement came after top leader of the DPRK Kim Jong-il and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi held talks on normalizing relations and other bilateral issues.

For its part, Japan agreed to extend 250,000 tons of food aid and US$10 million worth of medical supplies and humanitarian aid to the DPRK.

Kim and Koizumi ended their talks at 12:35 local time (0335 GMT) in the Daedonggang Guest House in the suburb of Pyongyang.

It is the second summit between Koizumi and Kim since the two leaders met in Pyongyang in September 2002, when Koizumi launched a historic visit to the DPRK and signed the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration.

The DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency said earlier that Koizumi' meeting with Kim was intended to "restore the relations of confidence between the two countries." Japan and the DPRK has not established diplomatic ties so far.

(Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2004)