Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori confirmed Wednesday that normalization talks between Japan and North Korea scheduled to start Tuesday in Tokyo have been postponed.
Asked by reporters if North Korea had asked Japan to postpone the talks, Mori said, "Yes, I have received such a report."
Mori also said there is no change in Japan's position of attempting to "continue negotiations (with North Korea) with patience."
In addition to the obstacle of how to discuss the issue of the alleged abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents, sources familiar with the talks said North Korea wants to await the outcome of the June 12-14 summit in Pyongyang between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea before holding talks with Japan.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki said the meeting has yet to be rescheduled, but emphasized that the postponement is only a slight delay.
"This is a temporary postponement of something that will eventually take place," the top government spokesman said at a news conference.
A senior Foreign Ministry official said the resumption of visits to Japan by Japanese wives of North Koreans who live in North Korea has also been put off.
"Japan had hoped the visit would take place in May, or in June at the latest, but that has been postponed," the official said.
The resumption of "homecoming" tours was agreed upon in talks between Japanese and North Korean Red Cross officials in Beijing in December.
Japan and North Korea agreed April 7 in Pyongyang to hold high-level negotiations on diplomatic ties in late May in Tokyo, marking the resumption of talks that collapsed in 1992.