The United States agreed to a Japanese request Saturday to discuss at upcoming talks with North Korea the alleged abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents and the extradition to Japan of the hijackers of a passenger plane in 1970, Japanese government officials said.
Japan made the request at a trilateral meeting between Japan, South Korea and the U.S. on policy toward North Korea prior to a visit to the U.S. by Cho Myong Nok, the first vice chairman of the National Defense Commission and the No. 3 leader in North Korea.
Cho will visit the U.S. from Monday through Thursday as a special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Cho will be the highest-ranking North Korean official to ever visit the U.S.
Yukio Takeuchi, head of the Foreign Policy Bureau at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, urged U.S. State Department Counselor Wendy Sherman to take up the issues at talks between Cho and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Tuesday and Wednesday.