North Korea on Sunday gave no definite response to a Japanese request to search for missing Japanese citizens who Tokyo suspects were abducted by North Korean agents.
In senior working-level talks between Japan and North Korea in Pyongyang -- the first such talks in almost two years -- Japanese delegates said Japan cannot normalize its diplomatic relations with North Korea without resolving the abduction problem. This is an important issue involving the lives and security of Japanese people, they said.
North Korean officials said Pyongyang will tackle this issue in cooperation with its Red Cross Society. They offered no other options, according to sources with access to the meeting.