A leading Japanese daily says South and North Korea held a secret meeting in China in January to discuss the possibility of holding summit talks.

The Asahi Shimbun quoted a South Korean government official as saying Friday that officials from the two Koreas met with the objective of discussing the establishment of an inter-Korean summit.

The official said the two sides also exchanged views on ways to address the North’s provocations, including its shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, its nuclear standoff, and what the South says was the North’s sinking of the South’s “Cheonan” naval vessel.

The paper said that an official from the United Front Department of the North's ruling Workers' Party attended the secret meeting.

The report also said that South Korean officials requested that the summit, if realized, be held at a venue not in North Korea, noting that the two previous summits were held in Pyongyang.