Japan will not take part in any multinational deal to help North Korea economically unless substantial progress is made in the six-party talks on denuclearizing the hermit country, government officials said Tuesday.
"Even if we are asked to provide energy, money or food (to the North), we won't easily contribute," Foreign Minister Taro Aso told reporters.
"We have our own special situation. We have repeatedly said so both to the United States and China," Aso said, referring to the unresolved abductions of Japanese citizens.