The suggestion was made when Ivanov called on Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the first day of his three-day visit here, the Japanese foreign ministry said.

Ivanov and Koizumi agreed that the Korean nuclear stand-off should be solved only by "diplomatic and political means," ministry officials said, amid international worries that North Korea could become the focus of armed conflict after Iraq.

"The situation in North Korea is causing security concerns to the United States, Japan, South Korean and Russia," Ivanov was quoted as telling Koizumi in the 35-minute meeting at the prime minister's official residence.

He said that it would be important for a team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to return to "control North Korea's (nuclear) programme," according to the officials.

"The North Korean problem can be solved through diplomatic and political means and Russia is prepared to inform North Korea of this position," Ivanov was quoted as saying.

Russia, one of the few countries to have regular contact with the leadership in Pyongyang, has been attempting to mediate in the crisis which flared up last October.

Pyongyang reportedly admitted to Washington in October that it was running a secret uranium enrichment programme, in violation of a 1994 nuclear deal between the two countries.

The United States has since stopped fuel aid to the North while the Stalinist state threatened to restart a program which produces weapons-grade plutonium, kicked out IAEA inspectors and quit the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Premier Koizumi told Ivanov that Japan intends to normalise diplomatic relations with North Korea based on the Pyongyang Declaration which he signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il last September at a summit in Pyongyang, the officials said.

In the declaration, Koizumi and Kim confirmed they would comply with international laws and not engage in conduct threatening each other's security.

SPACE.WIRE