N. Korea says abductions to be discussed with Japan: U.N. source+

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 Kyodo - North Korea's vice minister of foreign affairs, Pak Kil Yon, has said that pending issues with Japan including the abduction issue should be discussed with Japan bilaterally, a U.N. diplomatic source said Monday.

The remark made in his talks with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Sunday
indicates that Pyongyang is willing to resume bilateral talks with Japan.
Song Il Ho, North Korean ambassador in charge of normalization talks with
Japan, hinted in an interview with Kyodo News on Sept. 11 that North Korea is
ready to hold talks with the new Japanese government of Yukio Hatoyama.
The source said Pak clarified again to the U.N. chief North Korea's position
that it will not return to the six-party talks on denuclearizing the country.
North Korea withdrew from the multilateral talks, which involved China, the two
Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States, in April in protest at a U.N.
Security Council statement denouncing its launch of what it claims was a
satellite but which was widely seen as a disguised missile test.
==Kyodo