A newspaper in Japan says that North Korean parliamentary leader Kim Yong-nam has noted positively the resumption of high-level inter-Korean talks and the visit to Pyongyang by South Korean lawmakers, calling them good signs for realizing Korean unification.

According to the Choson Sinbo, a paper published by a pro-North Korean organization in Japan, Kim made the remarks while meeting former South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan in Pyongyang on Thursday.

The paper quoted Kim as saying also that he's glad to see Mr. Lee again following their first meeting in 2005.

Also on Thursday, the paper said that Seoul's former prime minister met with the vice chief of the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee and other Pyongyang officials, toured the U.S. Navy spy ship seized by the communist state in 1968, and enjoyed a cultural performance.