A North Korean committee set up following
talks with Japan in Stockholm at the end of May is to release its first report
at the beginning of September, according to a Japanese news report.
According to a Japanese government source
cited by the daily Yomiuri Shimbun on August 5th, agreement on the timing of
the upcoming report into cases of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean
agents in the 1970s and 80s was reached between Pyongyang and Tokyo via secret
discussions.
The Japanese government has requested that Pyongyang
prioritize establishing the whereabouts of approximately 30 missing Japanese
citizens who are deemed likely to have been abducted by North Korean agents, as
well as 12 who are already officially acknowledged by the government as
abductees and have not yet been returned to Japan.
Japanese Foreign Minisiter Fumio Kishida
and his North Korean opposite number Ri Su Yong are expected to hold additional talks on the fringes of the
ASEAN Regional Forum, which is being held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar this coming weekend.
Issues such as the method of dissemination of the investigation committee
results are expected to be on the agenda.
Japanese news agency Kyodo reported on
August 4th that the talks will be informal in order to
avoid clashing with the United States and South Korea, neither of which supports
the bilateral endeavor.
