North Korea used "no rhetoric" when it indicated during recent talks with the United States that it was open to further discussions with Japan on such issues as the abduction of Japanese nationals, a senior U.S. official said Sunday in Tokyo.

"They were very low-key, they were very — no rhetoric," Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, said, recalling his recent trip to Pyongyang aimed at persuading North Korea to return to the six-party denuclearization talks.

Bosworth said he urged North Korea to engage with Japan, particularly on the abduction issue, an emotional topic in Japan.