Recently resumed talks between Japan and North Korea are all but certain to stall again following the North's launch of a long-range rocket Wednesday, jeopardizing Tokyo's hopes of making progress on the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals by Pyongyang decades ago.

The expected interruption of dialogue between the two countries, which went into full swing in November after a four-year hiatus, will be a blow to the aging relatives of any surviving abductees yet to be repatriated.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, who is in charge of resolving the abduction issue, expressed concern last week that the North Korean rocket launch would make it difficult to hold a new round of bilateral talks on the matter.