Japan will demand that North Korea hand over two agents suspected of being responsible for the abductions of four out of the five repatriated abductees, government sources said Monday.

The demand will be made during bilateral negotiations expected to take place possibly by late this month, the sources said.

The agents are Sin Guang Su, who Japanese police have concluded abducted Yasushi Chimura and his wife, Fukie, in 1978, and a person only identified as Pak, who they say played a central role in snatching Kaoru Hasuike and his wife, Yukiko, also in 1978.