Japan, DPRK to meet on abduction issue next week

Japan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) plan to meet next week in China over the abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s as the DPRK agreed earlier to launch new investigations, according to local media Wednesday.

Pyongyang will likely inform Tokyo of its establishment of a unit to undertake fresh investigations into the abductions, reported Japan's Kyodo News, citing government officials.

The two-day meeting will kick off on July 1 and Song Il Ho, DPRK's ambassador for talks to normalize relations with Japan, is expected to explain the structure of the unit to Junichi Ihara, director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, said Kyodo.

Japan and the DPRK agreed late May that the latter would launch a committee to reinvestigate the whereabouts of the abducted Japanese and Japan, in return, would lift some unilateral sanctions imposed on the DPRK.

In 2002, the DPRK admitted to having abducted 13 Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, but has repeatedly stated since that the matter has already been settled with Japan, with five of the abductees allowed to return home to Japan and the remaining eight being declared dead.