Japan tells North Korea no aid unless abductions resolved

TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) Japan will not supply energy aid to North Korea because of past abductions of its nationals by Pyongyang's agents, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said today, but he offered Tokyo's help in surveying their energy needs.

Abe was speaking to reporters after North Korea agreed to take measures towards dismantling its nuclear programme in return for energy aid at a meeting of six countries in Beijing.

Under the Beijing agreement, Pyongyang will freeze a reactor at the heart of its nuclear programme within 60 days and in return receive 50,000 tonnes of fuel oil from South Korea, China, the United States and Russia, but not Japan.

''We cannot provide (energy) aid unless there's progress over the abduction issue,'' Abe said.

''We will cooperate in the efforts to move forward this framework aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear programme,'' he said, adding that Japan would take part in research of North Korea's energy situation, but did not elaborate.

Japan was one of the biggest contributors of a collapsed 1994 agreement under which North Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear programme in exchange for energy assistance from the United States, South Korea and Japan.

But after North Korea admitted in 2002 to abducting Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, Japan has insisted that progress toward resolving the highly emotive dispute is a condition to any aid.

Japanese daily, the Asahi Shimbun, said over the weekend that Japan was prepared to join a study group to grasp the actual state of the North Korean economy, aimed at getting a true picture of its electricity supply problems.

REUTERS DKA VV1742