Envoys in North Korea meet with detained Japanese

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Friday four Japanese diplomats have met in North Korea with two Japanese nationals being held there.

She said the diplomats met with a Japanese man being held in North Korea on drug-smuggling charges and a woman said to have entered the country seeking asylum in October.

North Korea has identified the man as Yoshiaki Sawada and the woman as Kazumi Kitagawa.

The foreign minister said details of the meetings are unavailable.

The four diplomats -- one from the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo and three from the Japanese Embassy in Beijing -- have been sent to North Korea mainly to take custody of the Japanese man.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima has said the Japanese team may discuss the abductions of Japanese by Pyongyang's agents if there is an opportunity to do so.