Japan and North Korea agreed Wednesday to hold bilateral talks starting Nov. 3 in Beijing, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Machimura unveiled the agreement at a news conference. Sources familiar with the issue said earlier the talks will last until Nov. 5.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The two sides are expected to discuss a variety of issues, including the country's abduction of Japanese nationals during the 1970s and 1980s.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The last time the two discussed the abductions was last November in Pyongyang.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver them is also likely to be on the agenda. </PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The two countries have failed to resume discussions due mainly to a dispute over whether the remains that North Korea gave Japan during the last meeting are those of abductee Megumi Yokota.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>North Korea says the ashes were Yokota's, but Japan says DNA tests conducted here suggest they came from two people other than Yokota.</PARAGRAPH> <SUBHEAD> Visit by envoy sought</SUBHEAD> <PARAGRAPH> WASHINGTON –

Relatives of two Japanese abducted to North Korea decades ago and a senior U.S. official agreed Tuesday to work to bring President George W. Bush's special envoy on human rights on North Korea to Japan at an early date, one of the relatives said.

Teruaki Masumoto, 50, whose sister is abductee Rumiko Masumoto, told reporters the relatives met with Michael Green, senior director for Asia on the National Security Council, and talked about a possible visit to Japan by presidential envoy Jay Lefkowitz.