Japan and North Korea launched a 10th round of normalization talks Tuesday in Tokyo, reiterating basic positions over which the two sides clashed during the previous round of discussions in Pyongyang in April.
More in-depth talks on the two most contentious issues -- the alleged kidnapping of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents and Pyongyang's demand for an apology and compensation for Tokyo's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula -- will be left for Thursday's session in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, a Japanese official told reporters.
Kicking off the first day of negotiations at the Foreign Ministry's Iikura Guesthouse in Tokyo, Kojiro Takano, Japan's chief negotiator, expressed Tokyo's eagerness for progress by taking advantage of a recent easing of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.