THE Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Japan agreed to resume normalization negotiations in October, said a declaration issued at the end of the first summit between DPRK leader Kim Jong Il and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Pyongyang yesterday.

　　Japan acknowledged its colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945 and expressed deep remorse, according to the declaration.

　　Japan will deal with the compensation to the DPRK in the form of cooperation and economic assistance, and the DPRK pledged to continue freezing missile tests after 2003, the declaration said.

　　The two sides agreed to promote dialogue among the countries concerned on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

　　DPRK leader Kim Jong Il welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in the first summit between the estranged Asian neighbors yesterday, expressing hopes for an end to decades-long bitterness that has left them “so close yet so far.”