No Accord on Japan-N. Korea Bilateral Talks: Source

Beijing, July 28 (Jiji Press)–Japan and North Korea have yet to agree to hold bilateral talks to discuss North Korea’s past abduction of Japanese citizens, a Japanese government source in Beijing said Thursday.

The comment contradicts a report made by China’s Xinhua news agency Thursday night which quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang as saying that the chief Japanese and North Korean negotiators participating in six-way talks have apparently agreed to meet one-on-one.

However, Qin made no mention of such an agreement when he spoke with reporters the same day.

Qin only said that China will provide a venue for negotiations between Japan and North Korea and that the abduction issue should be discussed by the two countries.

Representatives from China, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States have been meeting in Beijing since Tuesday to discuss North Korea’s nuclear development programs.

On the sidelines of the six-way talks, Kenichiro Sasae, director- general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, has called on Kim Kye Gwan, North Korean vice foreign minister, to hold bilateral talks to discuss the abduction issue. But the North Korean side has rejected the request.END