N. Korea seems open to talks with Japan on abduction issue: U.S. envoy+

TOKYO, Dec. 12 Kyodo -
North Korea, during recent talks with the top U.S. official on North Korea
policy, seemed receptive to holding talks with Japan on the issue of its
abductions of Japanese nationals, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada
quoted the envoy as telling him Saturday.
Following his meeting with Stephen Bosworth in Tokyo, Okada also said he thinks
the recent direct talks between the United States and North Korea are unlikely
to lead immediately to the resumption of the six-party denuclearization talks,
and stressed the need for unity between the countries concerned in dealing with
the North.
''The (U.S.-North Korea) talks can be...positively evaluated. But this does not
mean there would be a major move,'' Okada told reporters, noting that what is
required now is patience.
At the same time, however, Okada said the recent development has underscored
North Korea's hope to make ''things get going.''
Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, arrived in
Tokyo earlier in the day after holding his country's first direct bilateral
talks with North Korea under the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama,
with the aim of persuading the country to return to the six-party talks.
Bosworth told Okada that he raised the abduction issue during his talks with
North Korean officials.
''He explained to me that North Korea showed a positive stance toward holding
talks between Japan and North Korea, including on the abduction issue,'' Okada
said.
But he added that this explanation seemed to be based on Bosworth's
''impression.''
''As Mr. Bosworth has pointed out, it is extremely important that the five
countries (involved in the six-party talks) have good communications with each
other and take the same kind of response,'' Okada also said.
The six-party talks involve the North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and
the United States.
Before coming to Japan, Bosworth had stopped off in South Korea and China also
to brief officials on the outcome of his three-day visit to Pyongyang earlier
this week, during which the United States and the North reached what they call
''common understandings'' on the need to resume the stalled talks.
But North Korea gave no firm pledge to return to the multilateral talks on
denuclearizing the country and urged the United States to agree to conclude a
bilateral peace treaty.
The U.S. envoy will leave Japan on Sunday and head to Russia.
In April, North Korea declared its withdrawal from the six-party talks and in
May conducted a second nuclear test. But in an apparent policy shift, North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il expressed his willingness on Oct. 5 to hold
multilateral talks, including the six-party talks, depending on the outcome of
bilateral dialogue with the United States.
Japan maintains a policy of comprehensively resolving the abduction issue as
well as Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.
The issue involving Japanese citizens abducted in the 1970s and 1980s remains a
major obstacle preventing Japan and North Korea from establishing diplomatic
ties. Negotiations between the two countries to resolve the issue have stalled.
==Kyodo