Pyongyang, Sep 7 (IANS) In a bid to improve its diplomatic relations, a delegation of North Korea's ruling party Saturday left here to visit Europe and Mongolia, the official KCNA news agency reported.

The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) delegation, led by Kang Sok Ju, a political bureau member of the WPK Central Committee, will visit Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and Mongolia, Xinhua reported.

North Korea, which faces strained relations with South Korea and the US, is now seeking to break the ice in diplomacy with a series of moves.

Last week, Japanese lawmaker Antonio Inoki went to Pyongyang to stage a two-day international wrestling tournament. During his short stay here, he held talks with DPRK officials over the re-investigation into abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.

The visit, which drew worldwide attention, was widely called "sports diplomacy" and believed to help warm DPRK-Japan relations.