Japan, DPRK Discuss Kidnapping |
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/02/27 12:36 Shanghai Daily |
Japan urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea yesterday to release family members of five Japanese nationals kidnapped by Pyongyang decades ago, entreating the DPRK in meetings on the sidelines of six-nation talks about North Korea's nuclear program. There was no indication that the 80-minute encounter after the opening session of the multi-party talks yielded any progress, apart from an agreement to continue dialogue on the thorny issues dividing the two countries. "Unfortunately, we remain still apart," Mitoji Yabunaka, Japan's top delegate to the talks, told reporters late yesterday. "However, we will persevere." During the meeting, Japan reiterated its demand that the DPRK "fully and unconditionally" account for all citizens it believes were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s, according to a Japanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity. North Korea's top delegate to the talks, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, promised he would convey Japan's requests to Pyongyang, the officials said. But Kim also repeated North Korea's accusations that Tokyo broke its promises by not sending back five abductees who returned to Japan in 2002. No schedule for future meetings has been decided, the Japanese official said. There was no confirmation of the meeting from the North Korean side. Kim had warned over the weekend that Japan would be "shut out" of the nuclear talks if its diplomats brought up the abductions issue. The DPRK has admitted to spiriting away 13 Japanese to train its agents in Japanese language and culture. (The Associated Press) |
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