UN hopes N Korea talks may aid abduction issue

Tokyo, Dec 13: Six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear programme could lead to a chance for dialogue with Pyongyang on human rights issues, including past abductions of Japanese by the North's agents, a UN investigator said today.

The UN special rapporteur for human rights in North Korea, Vitit Muntarbhorn, welcomed the resumption of the talks in Beijing from next week, adding that progress there could pave the way for discussions about human rights.

Muntarbhorn, a Thai law professor, is in Japan for talks with families of Japanese abductees, who were kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s to help train spies with the Japanese language and customs.

''Once we nurture a sense of mutual confidence through dialogue ... there would be windows of opportunity in terms of engagement in regards to human rights,'' he told a news conference.

''There could be opportunities for discourse between the various countries even informally, for example on human rights, while talks are formally taking place on the nuclear issue,'' he said, when asked about the abductions of the Japanese nationals.

The six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, are due to restart next week after Pyongyang boycotted them for over a year.

The abductions are a major thorn in relations between Japan and North Korea. Tokyo has brought up the issue at six-party talks, insisting that it not be forgotten or take a back seat in discussions about North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

Japan has also vowed not to normalise diplomatic ties with the North until the issue is resolved.

North Korea admitted in 2002 that its agents had abducted 13 Japanese, setting off a furore in Japan. Five of those were repatriated in 2002, with their families joining them later, but Pyongyang says the other eight are dead.

Tokyo now believes at least 17 people were kidnapped, demanding more information about their whereabouts and that survivors be sent home.

Reuters

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