Keeping the sanctions on North Korea intact, the Japanese government is keenly watching the North's response to Cabinet adviser Isao Iijima's talks with its leaders on resolution of the issues relating to abduction of Japanese nationals by the Communist nation.
Quoting Japanese government sources, Japan's NHK broadcaster reported on Monday that Iijima had told senior North Korean officials that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wanted a final resolution of the abductions, nuclear development and missiles issues.
Iijima also reiterated that Japan would not ease its sanction until the North returns all abductees, conducts a thorough investigation, and hands over the perpetrators.
The North Korean officials have agreed to inform the country's leader Kim Jong-Un of the Japanese demands. Abe has made it clear that he can negotiate with the North to resolve the abductions issue.
Talks between Japan and North Korea have been stalled since senior officials held high-level talks last November in Mongolia.
A member of Abe's Cabinet said Iijima's visit was meant to clearly show Kim that Japan was still willing to hold talks. But his government will maintain Japan's sanctions against North Korea, while continuing to work closely with the United States and South Korea.
Talking to reporters in Tokyo on Sunday, Abe reiterated his determination to resolve the abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korea and the North's nuclear and missile development in line with the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration.
Resolving the abduction issue would mean that North Korea returns all the victims, releases all the information about the abductions and hands over the perpetrators, Abe said adding that his government would hold negotiations and dialog with North Korea to achieve the goal.
Iijima returned from Pyongyang on Saturday and briefed Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on his visit. Declining to provide details about his advisor's meeting with senior North Korean officials, Abe said the basic policy toward North Korea was one of dialog and pressure. He said Japan would fulfill its international responsibility and keep pressuring the North if the issues remain unresolved.
Suga said on Monday that the door to dialog to resolve North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals was always open. The Abe government feels a strong sense of responsibility for the abduction issue and is determined to resolve it, he said.
The administration maintains the policy of using both dialog and pressure and has been saying that the door to dialog is always open, Suga said and added that he believed Iijima and North Korean officials held talks toward resolving the abduction issue, and that Iijima handled these talks based on the administration's basic policy.
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