Japan and North Korea to Talk in Beijing

Japan and North Korea have agreed to open bilateral talks in Beijing on Nov. 3, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Wednesday.

Machimura said the two nations’ diplomats would discuss the fates of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, Kyodo News reported.

North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles is also likely to come up for discussion, Machimura said.

Bilateral talks were suspended late last year when Japan accused North Korea of providing false information about Japanese kidnapped by Pyongyang. Human remains returned to Japan were found through DNA analysis not to be those of an abducted woman, as Pyongyang claimed.

Meanwhile, the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear arms program could reconvene as early as Nov. 8 in Beijing, the Chosun Ilbo reported, citing an unnamed South Korean government official. The official said Tuesday that the six nations were negotiating a date before the middle of November, with Nov. 8 the likely date, pending confirmation.