The first round of talks with North Korea on its promised inquiry into the abductions of Japanese citizens will take place next Tuesday in Beijing, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday.
Pyongyang will likely inform Tokyo that it has set up a unit to conduct the investigation, Japanese officials said.
Junichi Ihara, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, will meet for two days with Song Il Ho, North Korea's ambassador for talks to normalize relations with Japan.