A leading Japanese daily says Tokyo is considering ways to hold talks with North Korea next month regarding Japanese abductees and Pyongyang’s nuclear standoff.

The Mainichi Shimbun said Wednesday that Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered related government agencies to review ways to consult with the North on abducted Japanese nationals in North Korea. He issued the order following calls by abductees’ families that Tokyo resume a probe on the abductions and urge for dialogue with the North on the matter.

South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed during a meeting of their foreign ministers on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bali last Saturday that the six-nation nuclear talks should be pursued after progress is made in inter-Korean dialogue and after the North holds separate consultations with the U.S. and Japan.

The Japanese government has dismissed rumors that senior government officials, including Kan, are seeking to visit Pyongyang. But the government has not denied reports that Tokyo is seeking dialogue with the communist state.