U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's administration will maintain the goal of trying to help Japan resolve the abduction dispute with North Korea, a State Department official said Monday.
"There is no doubt that the new Obama administration will begin with a very clear understanding of what has gone before, what the issues are, what the objectives are, and what the concerns and the interests of Japan are in the context of North Korea," said Daniel Russel, director of the Office of Japanese Affairs.
Russel said Obama and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton will be briefed from within the government and by Japan and other parties involved in the six-party talks on denuclearizing the North.
"With regard to the importance of improving relations between Pyongyang and . . . Tokyo, in dealing directly with an issue of tremendous importance to Japan and an issue of great human rights significance, the abduction issue, why would there be a change?" he asked.