News of the successes and failures in the reunification of the families of five Japanese who were repatriated after being abducted to North Korea have been plastered across the front pages of Japanese newspapers in the wake of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang on Saturday.

But few stories covered the issue of the harassment of ethnic Koreans in Japan, which was also referred to during Koizumi's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

A Japanese official said Koizumi told Kim that the government will deal with the issue of harassment and discrimination "in an amicable way."