Japan and North Korea are reportedly fine-tuning views on a way to resume government dialogue in a third country.

A Japanese government source said Monday that a proposal to hold bilateral talks was made after Red Cross officials of the two countries met last week in Beijing to discuss recovering the remains of Japanese soldiers who died in North Korea during World War Two.

The last time that North Korea and Japan held bilateral talks was in August 2008 when they discussed the issue of Japanese abductees in the North.

Last week’s Red Cross talks between the two countries were held for the first time in ten years.