According to the Japanese media, Koizumi attended a House of Councilors’ committee session on Thursday and said, “You often have an image of dictators as dreadful, eerie people. If you meet with him [Kim Jong-il] yourself, you will find that he is cheerful, gentle and a quick-witted person who enjoys cracking jokes.”

Following the session, reporters asked what kind of jokes Kim made, the prime minister answered, “I forgot.”

When asked by a councilor whether Japan can establish reliable relations with the North Korean leader, Koizumi replied with, “If you don’t build trustworthy relationships with your dialogue partner, you cannot talk frankly with him. It's not a matter of whether we can trust him or not, he is the partner we have to negotiate with,” reported Japanese newspapers.

In connection with his visit to the North on May 22, Koizumi said, “I made the decision to go there for comprehensive behind-the-scene negotiations, because relations would remain stagnate and the abducted people would not be able to get back home if I did not go there,” the Japanese media reported.

(Choi Heup, pot@chosun.com )