apan-N Korea talks to continue despite snag over abductions

Japan and North Korea are set Thursday to meet for their second day of talks on normalizing diplomatic relations, after their bitter row over past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents triggered a stall on the first day. Koichi Haraguchi, Japan's delegate, and his North Korean counterpart Song Il Ho are due to meet at the North Korean Embassy in Hanoi to discuss both the abduction dispute as well as issues linked to Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea boycotted the afternoon session of the first day of the normalization talks, in objection to Tokyo's demands that it reinvestigate past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents. Pyongyang eventually agreed to return to the negotiating table Thursday after informal consultations with Japan, according to Japanese diplomats. In Wednesday's talks, Japan urged North Korea to reinvestigate the cases of 12 abduction victims on Japan's official list, or all of the listed victims except the five who returned to Japan in 2002.