Japan's incoming Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama says progress in relations between Japan and North Korea depends solely on the North's attitude.

Hatoyama's remark comes after North Korea's parliamentary leader Kim Yong-nam expressed hopes for positive relations with Japan following the Democratic Party of Japan’s defeat of the former ruling Liberal Democratic Party in elections last month.

Japan's Kyodo news agency reported Friday that Hatoyama's comment seems to stress that Pyongyang should act on its commitments by returning to the stalled six-party nuclear talks.

Hatoyama told reporters that North Korea’s launch of missiles, pursuit of nuclear programs and failure to resolve the issue of Japanese abductees are to blame for delayed progress in bilateral relations.

The North Korean official recently told Kyodo that positive relations between Japan and North Korea depend solely on the attitude of the Japanese government.