A member of the axis of evil wants to come in from the cold

At one level, North Korea's belated admission that it kidnapped 11 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and early 1980s merely underlines how well earned is Pyongyang's reputation as perhaps the most ruthless, paranoid and hermetically secretive regime on Earth. That a country should have to resort to abducting foreign citizens on foreign soil to obtain their language skills and/or identities for the benefit of its spies beggars belief.

At another level, however, the personal apology this week given by North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, to the Japanese Prime Minister for the excesses of "heroism and adventurism" of his country's intelligence services portends long overdue changes in the region and beyond. As its recent overtures to South Korea have indicated, North Korea feels very poor, very lonely and very exposed, and wants to rejoin the world.

Acknowledgement of the abductions is only the most eye-catching element of a far-reaching agreement with East Asia's dominant economic power and Washington's most important regional ally. Pyongyang is to halt the ballistic missile tests that have so alarmed the Japanese. It promises to end incursions by North Korean vessels into Japanese waters and to allow monitors to inspect its nuclear facilities. In return, Japan will deliver aid worth $10bn. All this will be capped by a normalisation of diplomatic ties after decades of suspicion and hostility.

Most significant of all is Mr Kim's request to Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese Prime Minister, to convey to the Bush administration North Korea's desire for better relations with the US. An essential condition is that North Korea ceases its role as an arms proliferator – the reason for its inclusion in President Bush's "axis of evil".

The North's overture is too important to dismiss out of hand. The Korean peninsula, where American and North Korean troops glare at each other across a narrow demilitarized zone, has been described as the most dangerous place in the world. Mr Kim, who no doubt is also feeling the reflected heat of Washington's torrid rhetoric against Iraq, is now offering diplomatic engagement. Washington should accept his invitation.