TOKYO. Dec 11: Japan is considering holding preliminary talks on setting up diplomatic ties with communist North Korea as early as Dec. 20. a newspaper reported Saturday, reports AP.

The talks would be held In Beijing and involve senior bureaucrats from both sides, the mass-circulation Asahi Shimbun reported.

They would prepare the resumption of full-fleaged normalization discussions, which broke down in 1992 over allegations that North Korean agents kidnapped Japanese citizens.

Also Saturday. Kyodo News service reported that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba Corp, and Hitachi will sign an agreement by the end of the month to help build two nuclear power reactors in North Korea.

The offer by the three major Japanese companies are part of a 1994 agreement to provide nuclear power plants to North Korea in exchange • for a promise'! 4hat it would stop its. ,

The deal will biggest for Japanese companies in North Korea, Kyodo said.

The offices of Mitsubishi Heavy, Toshiba and Hitachi were closed Saturday and officials could not be immediately reached for comment.