Dealing with the issue of North Korea's past abduction of Japanese citizens is crucial to the goal of normalizing diplomatic relations with Tokyo, and Pyongyang understands this, according to a Japanese ruling party lawmaker who recently visited North Korea.

Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yoshifu Arita said in an interview with JRT that he thinks North Korea is willing to move forward with its newly resumed dialogue with Japan and could eventually be open again to discussing the abductions. Mr. Arita is a member of a special...