Japan and North Korea are trying to schedule their next round talks on bilateral issues, including the Japanese abducted by the North, in mid-March, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
The two countries are working on finalizing the arrangements in discussions on the sidelines of the six-party talks on the North's nuclear threat that are taking place in Beijing, the sources said.
The next bilateral dialogue is expected to center on gaining concessions from North Korea on Japan's demand that the North allow the families of five abductees, who were repatriated in October 2002 after spending 24 years in the North, to travel Japan.