Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara says he will seek to hold working-level consultations with North Korea next year in a bid to resume dialogue between the two countries.

Maehara unveiled the plan during an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun on Wednesday, saying that it is important the two nations exchange views on contentious issues even though they don’t have diplomatic ties.

Sources say that by holding bilateral dialogue, Japan could be seeking to discuss the issue of Japanese abductees in the North or ways to normalize diplomatic relations with Pyongyang.

Maehara said his country is holding various informal contacts with the North, adding that next year Tokyo will work to hold official consultations. Japan hasn’t held official talks with the North in the past two years.