A former U.S. State Department official says Pyongyang believes Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is rushing to normalize ties with the communist state in order to boost his political standing following a setback for his party in last month's parliamentary election.

Former State Department North Korean Affairs officer Kenneth Quinones made the comment in an interview with Japan's Kyodo News Agency on Monday.

Quinones met North Korean officials and scholars at an academic seminar during a visit to Pyongyang last week.

He was quoted as saying that the North Koreans believe they have an edge over Japan in the normalization talks because Tokyo is in a rush to normalize ties.

Quinones also said North Korean officials and academics showed strong interest in Koizumi's remarks in July that he plans to normalize ties with the North within a year.

As a U.S. state department official, Quinones was involved in talks with North Korea that led to a 1994 landmark agreement that froze Pyongyang's nuclear program in exchange for two light-water reactors and fuel oil.