Japan's powerful diplomatic weapon against North Korea could be a humble shellfish, if Japan chooses to stop eating them, a citizens' group said Wednesday. </PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Japan regularly imports tons of 'asari' clams from the reclusive state. Boycotting asari imports could help Japan find out what happened to citizens abducted by North Korea and the clams could instead feed starving North Koreans, the group said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>At a news conference in Tokyo, the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea –

called on consumers to stop buying North Korean asari because the littleneck clams are Japan's top import from the country.

The tiny shellfish are commonly served up in home-cooked meals and miso soup.

Japan imported 4.48 billion yen worth of littleneck clams from North Korea in 2003, the group said. That accounted for 22.2 percent of the country's exports, behind queen crabs, at 8.4 percent, and men's suits, at 7.7 percent.

The 31,956 tons of North Korean asari consumed in Japan in 2003 also accounted for 36.8 percent of Japan's total asari consumption, although few retailers label them as North Korean, the group said.

"If we don't buy asari, the (North Korean) people would eat them by themselves or sell them on the black market," said Tsutomu Nishioka, a professor at Tokyo Christian University and a key member of NARKN.

Nishioka claimed that the profits from littleneck clam exports only go to the military or other government bodies, and that boycotting them would not hurt the people who are being forced by the government to collect the shellfish from government-controlled beaches.