Japan and North Korea were in secret contact earlier this month in Beijing regarding the first report by Pyongyang on its new round of investigations into abductions of Japanese nationals, sources familiar with bilateral relations said Thursday.
The two sides failed however to reach agreement over North Korea's repeated call for further easing of Japan's sanctions in return for the first report, making it certain that the report won't be submitted by the second week of September, as Tokyo had expected.
The sources said the North Korean participant in the secret discussions was a senior official from the Ministry of State Security, North Korea's secret police organ directly linked to leader Kim Jong Un.