Tokyo, North begin Red Cross talks in Pyeongyang

TOKYO -- North Korean and Japanese Red Cross delegates began a two-day meeting in Pyeongyang on Sunday to restart negotiations that could ease the way to eventual diplomatic relations between the two hostile neighbors. A major issue is the whereabouts of at least 11 Japanese nationals that Tokyo says were abducted by North Korean intelligence agents.

A joint statement is expected Monday afternoon when the meeting concludes.

A Japanese Red Cross spokesman, Yasuo Tanaka, told reporters, "We expect that the Japanese delegation will propose new investigations to locate the missing persons."

The alleged abductions occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, Tokyo says, and were staged to provide Pyeongyang with people familiar with Japanese customs and slang to train its intelligence agents.

The Japanese delegation reportedly asked Sunday that more Japanese women living in the North after marrying Korean men be allowed to visit their families in Japan. They also asked for information about another 38 missing Japanese who authorities in Tokyo say may have either gone to North Korea voluntarily or may also have been abducted.

The North Koreans, in turn, reportedly had asked Japan for information about 314 Koreans who went missing before World War II. The Japanese press said that Tokyo's delegates found some information on those persons had handed it over during the meeting.

The Yomiuri Shimbun, a Japanese daily, said Sunday there is reason to believe the North Koreans will allow more Japanese mail-order brides in North Korea to visit Japan. Most of them married North Korean farmers.

A senior Japanese government delegation is scheduled to visit Pyeongyang on Aug. 25 to resume talks on normalizing official ties.

by Oh Day-young