In talks last week, Japan called on North Korea to provide "convincing evidence" to back the results of its investigations into Japanese nationals abducted decades ago, a government source said.
Tokyo put Pyongyang on notice that Japan is wary of North Korea presenting false information, as it did in past investigations of 12 Japanese nationals officially recognized as abductees.
North Korea has claimed that eight of them have died and the remaining four never entered the country. "Proof" provided to Japan included what North Korean claimed were the cremated remains of Megumi Yokota, a symbolic figure among the abduction victims. DNA tests conducted in Japan determined the ashes were not those of Yokota.