Japan and North Korea on Aug. 31 ended three days of talks in Beijing and agreed to hold a new round of talks, which will be upgraded with the participation of bureau chiefs of each country's foreign ministry. The Beijing talks were the first held by the two countries in four years and the first since Mr. Kim Jong Un became the leader of North Korea in December 2011 following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.
It is hoped that both countries will establish a permanent channel for official communications that can serve as a basis for solving bilateral problems ranging from the North's nuclear weapons program to the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents. For the next round of talks, both sides agreed to take up topics that interest both sides. Apart from the North's nuclear weapons program, the abduction of Japanese nationals is the most important issue for Japan.
Tokyo could not get a clear promise from Pyongyang that the abduction issue would be taken up at the next talks. Tokyo should strive to persuade Pyongyang to discuss this issue. It is especially important to remind Pyongyang of the August 2008 agreement to establish a joint committee to investigate the abduction issue in exchange for a partial lifting of Japan's economic sanctions against the North.