TOKYO, November 15. /TASS/. Japan has been thoroughly collecting and analyzing reports about North Korea, including the current visit to Pyongyang by a Russian delegation, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a regular news conference.

"We are aware of the reports. We continue to collect information related to North Korea carefully, including the issue that you mentioned," Matsuno said when asked to comment on the visit by the Russian delegation led by Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov and the development of the relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow. At the same time, Japan is not in a position to comment on relations between other countries directly, the senior Japanese official said.

However, he reiterated that Russia has been allegedly buying weapons and ammunition from North Korea as he added that Japan would continue cooperating closely with the international community, primarily with United States and South Korea, with the view to fully implementing United Nations Security Council resolutions on Pyongyang.

The Russian delegation arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Russian-North Korean intergovernmental commission on economic, scientific and technical cooperation.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed as rumors Washington’s claims that Pyongyang has been sending military assistance to Moscow. On October 26, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on reports about alleged arms deliveries to Russia from North Korea as he said that "there are many such reports, they are all, as a rule, groundless, there are no specifics there."