North Korea to probe abducted Japanese -source

BEIJING, Jun 28 (Reuters) North Korea will conduct a thorough investigation into the kidnapping of Japanese citizens, a departure from its stand that the divisive issue has been settled, a source with ties to Pyongyang said today.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said Tokyo will refuse economic aid to Pyongyang unless it sees progress in a dispute over citizens kidnapped decades ago to help train North Korean spies in language and culture.

''Kim Jong-il has ordered a thorough investigation into the issue ... North Korea intends to resolve this issue,'' the source told Reuters, requesting anonymity.

The source has provided reliable information on the secretive state's policy in the past.

Pyongyang has yet to inform Tokyo of its decision.

North Korea admitted in 2002 that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s. Five returned to Japan in 2002 after then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi twice visited Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Pyongyang has said the eight others are dead and has insisted that the abductee issue is settled.

However, Tokyo wants more information about the fate of the eight and word on another four who it says were also kidnapped.

It insists bilateral ties between the two countries cannot be normalised until the problem is resolved.

REUTERS SLD HT1247