Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Wednesday asked the United States to take up the alleged abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents when its officials meet their counterparts from Pyongyang later this month, Japanese officials said.
Kawaguchi made the request to Secretary of State Colin Powell at a meeting Wednesday morning ahead of the gathering here of foreign ministers from the Group of Eight major industrialized powers.
Kawaguchi was quoted as telling Powell, "We would like the United States to take up the issue of abductions of Japanese." Powell nodded, the officials said.
Powell told reporters on a flight to Canada that Washington is planning to hold talks with Pyongyang later this month but did not indicate where they would take place.