N. Korea refrains from saying abduction cases 'closed': envoy

Beijing, June 13 Kyodo - North Korea explained its position on the past abductions of Japanese nationals by its agents in talks with Japan on Thursday, and while the Japanese envoy declined to reveal the details of the discussions, he said Pyongyang refrained
from repeating that the cases were closed.

Akitaka Saiki, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, said he will unveil the results of his Beijing talks with Song Il Ho, North Korea's ambassador for normalization talks with Japan, after reporting to his bosses in Tokyo.

''We had in-depth exchanges today on issues including the abduction problem,'' Saiki told reporters after the conclusion of the two-day talks.

''I would like to tell you about it after I report to top officials of the government,'' he said, adding he will return to Tokyo on Friday and report to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura.

Saiki said, however, that North Korea refrained from stating that it considers the abduction cases ''fully settled,'' as it had done in some previous discussions.

It is the second time that North Korea has not used the phrase, following the last full-fledged bilateral negotiations held in Ulan Bator in September. The development in the Mongolian capital prompted some to interpret it as a subtle policy shift by Pyongyang.

Saiki declined to say whether he considers Thursday's results as progress, although he added they did not meet for the sake of meeting.

Japan and North Korea are deeply divided over the number of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s, and the fates of some of them, including whether they are still alive.

Japan has repeatedly demanded that North Korea return any abductees still in
the country, get to the bottom of the incidents and hand over to Japan the
agents responsible for the kidnappings.

Of the 17 abductees on Japan's official list, five returned to Japan in October
2002. North Korea said in 2002 that eight had died while two had never entered
the country. Two others have been added to the list of victims since then.

Saiki also indicated that discussions were also held on Tokyo's call for
Pyongyang to hand over Japanese radicals who hijacked a Japan Airlines plane to
North Korea in 1970.

Four of the nine Japanese hijackers, who sought asylum in North Korea, remain
in the country. Three others have died and two later returned to Japan and were
convicted.

Another topic in Thursday's talks was North Korea's call for Japan to pay
reparations for its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, Saiki said,
without going into details.

The two countries have in the past differed on a plan for Japan to make up for
damage linked to the occupation.

Japan has pushed for a formula under which Tokyo would give Pyongyang economic
assistance in the form of grants and low-interest loans rather than
compensation payments. North Korea has said that it finds that proposal
insufficient.

The discussions also included North Korea's demands for an improvement in the
status of Koreans living in Japan and the return of cultural relics seized
during the Japanese occupation, according to Saiki.

Thursday's talks were held at the Japanese Embassy in the morning and the North
Korean Embassy in the afternoon.
==Kyodo