North Korea appears open to restarting discussions on the abduction issue, a senior Japanese official said after two days of talks with North Korean officials in Beijing.
They "did not appear to reject discussions" on the issue, Junichi Ihara, director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Foreign Ministry, told journalists after speaking with Song Il Ho, North Korea's ambassador for talks on normalizing relations with Japan.
Ihara said he lodged a firm protest against the North's launch of two Rodong medium-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan last week.