Japanese media say South Korea is likely to allow a visit to Japan by a former senior official of the North Korean Workers’ Party who defected to South Korea.

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper said Thursday that the Seoul government is likely to approve Tokyo’s request for the visit by Hwang Jang-yop, in consideration of South Korea-Japan relations.

The report said Hiroshi Nakai, Japan’s top official in charge of the issue of Japanese abductees in the North, will discuss Hwang’s possible visit when he travels to Seoul on Thursday.

If Hwang’s visit is realized, the Japanese government is considering asking him to speak at the Japanese Diet.

Hwang, a former Workers’ Party secretary, defected to the South in 1997 and is the highest-ranking North Korean official ever to escape to South Korea.

Tokyo sought a visit by Hwang to Japan during the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration, but the Korean government rejected the request.