Japan and North Korea have agreed to hold the first round of negotiations in Pyongyang on establishing diplomatic ties on April 4-8, resuming the talks that collapsed in 1992, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said Wednesday.
"We will maximize our efforts and work tenaciously on the negotiations . . . which is one of the top diplomatic priorities," Kono said in announcing the timetable.
Kono said the negotiations will cover "all issues of interest to both nations" and that Japan is focused on the two "matters of most concern" to Tokyo -- North Korean missile development and the alleged abduction of 10 Japanese nationals by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.