It is deeply disappointing that last week's working-level talks in Beijing between Japan and North Korea produced no substantial progress on the question of whether Japanese abductees remain in North Korea. Pyongyang should reverse its backward-looking attitude and sincerely work to settle this issue. Otherwise, Japanese mistrust toward the North Koreans will only increase, pushing the prospect of normalized relations further into the distance.
The Japanese government says 15 citizens were kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. Five returned home in October 2002 following a summit meeting the previous month between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Regarding the other 10, North Korea said at the time that eight had died and two had never entered the country.
In his second meeting with Mr. Koizumi in May of this year, Mr. Kim promised a thorough investigation of circumstances surrounding the missing. Yet, after nearly three months, the promise remains unfulfilled. During the talks last week, the North Korean delegation supplied no vital information on the fates of the missing, providing only a verbal "interim report" on how the investigation was going.