North Korea and Japan reportedly held a high-level meeting in Mongolia amid speculation regarding a possible bilateral summit. 

Fuji News Network said that Shigeru Kitamura, head of Japan's Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, contacted a senior North Korean official in Mongolia last Friday, adding the Pyongyang official appeared to be Kim Song-hye, head of strategy at the United Front Department, which handles the North’s policies toward South Korea. 

The Japanese broadcaster speculated it was a behind-the-scenes negotiation in which Tokyo sought to realize a bilateral summit by securing Pyongyang’s promise to solve the issue of abduction of Japanese nationals by the North in the 1970s and 1980s. 

Kitamura is said to be planning to visit Washington soon to brief U.S. officials on the outcome of his meeting. 

According to the Washington Post, Kitamura and Kim also met in Vietnam in July without informing the United States.