HANOI: Japan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) salvaged their first diplomatic talks in more than a year yesterday after negotiations were suspended over discord about "abduction of Japanese citizens".

The turbulence contrasted with a meeting in New York on Monday between US officials and a DPRK delegation that an American envoy described as "very good".

The two encounters took place as implementation of a six-nation deal began under which the DPRK would start dismantling its nuclear program in exchange for aid and diplomatic recognition.

Japanese delegation head Koichi Haraguchi told reporters they will meet at the DPRK embassy in Hanoi this morning to discuss the abductions issue and normal diplomatic relations.

Earlier, a Japanese diplomat said a scheduled afternoon meeting failed to take place yesterday because the DPRK had "reacted angrily" at the morning session over discussion on the sensitive issue of "abductions of Japanese citizens" in the 1970s and 80s.

Japanese and DPRK diplomats met yesterday morning at the Japanese embassy in Hanoi, which is hosting the two-day meeting.

The current talks were mandated by the agreement last month between the DPRK, the Republic of Korea, the United States, Russia, Japan and China that aims to make the Korean Peninsula nuclear free.

The Hanoi talks were part of five sets of working-group meetings this week scheduled to meet within 30 days of the Beijing accord.

The talks started hopefully, with Haraguchi saying Japan plans to take concrete steps to normalize ties by resolving issues surrounding Japan's wartime past and the abductions, along with disputes over the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs.

His counterpart Song Il-ho promised his best efforts in resolving the nuclear dispute, and expressed eagerness to normalize ties with Japan by obtaining atonement for Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

Agencies

(China Daily 03/08/2007 page1)