Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara says he believes that North Korea would be best taken over by China.

Ishihara, who has been at the center of numerous controversies with his ultra-rightist remarks, made the comment on Monday before the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

He said he thinks China's integration of North Korea would be the best solution to the problems posed by the reclusive nation, saying that the six-way nuclear talks have yielded little progress in ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program or its isolation from the international community.

Last year, Ishihara sparked anger from neighboring Asian countries by saying that Japan had freed Asian countries from colonial rule with the Second World War.

In particular, Ishihara came under harsh criticism in South Korea for claiming that Japan’s shrine visits and a policy obligating Koreans to change their names into Japanese names during colonial rule were welcomed by Koreans at the time.