Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) --Japan will ask North Korea to explain increased activity at its missile sites when the two nations meet tomorrow for talks on normalizing ties, Hiroyuki Hosoda, Japan's chief government spokesman, said.

``There will need to be some reference to it,'' Hosoda said at a regular press briefing in Tokyo. The activity, which Hosoda said may be military drills, ``doesn't suggest an imminent launch.''

North Korea promised Japan in 2002 it would halt testing of ballistic missiles as part of an agreement to begin talks on establishing ties between the two nations. North Korea raised tension in the region after it tested a ballistic missile in 1998 that flew over Japan before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said yesterday North Korea may be preparing to test-fire a missile capable of reaching Alaska or Hawaii as part of its routine military drills.

The two-day meeting in Beijing is part of a series of working level talks to discuss ties and abductions of Japanese by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. The discussions, which collapsed in 2002 restarted after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang in May.

Japan has said any agreement to establish ties, which would open the way for economic aid, depends on progress by North Korea in investigating the fate of 10 people Japan says were abducted. North Korea has said eight of the Japanese are dead and claims no knowledge of the remaining two. Five other Japanese abductees and their families have returned to Japan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Kelly in Tokyo at tikelly@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 24, 2004 02:08 EDT