Kyodo News says Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba has unveiled a proactive stance about engaging in dialogue with North Korea.

The Japanese news agency reported that Gemba told reporters Wednesday that Japan could engage in dialogue with North Korea at an appropriate time and if there is a possibility the talks will proceed effectively.

His remark apparently suggests that Japan would actively consider resuming talks with the communist state if Pyongyang takes on a progressive stance over resolving the issue of Japanese who died in the North after the end of the second World War.

Red Cross officials of the two countries will begin two days of talks in Beijing Thursday to discuss repatriation of the remains of the Japanese.

Gemba called the issue “an important humanitarian matter.”

The North has continuously sought to improve its relations with Japan, including through negotiations on the return of remains of the Japanese since Kim Jong-un came into power.