TOKYO, Aug. 22 Kyodo Japan and No...

TOKYO, Aug. 22 Kyodo

Japan and North Korea may qualified next Thursday to discuss North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals onward the sidelines of six-nation talks in Beijing forward the North's nuclear weapons program, Japanese command sources said Thursday.

China, entertainer of the six-way talks from nearest Wednesday to Friday, is making final arrangements for the Japan-North Korea talks as well as other bilateral contacts, including a meeting between the United States and North Korea onward the same day, the sources said.

If realized, it would be the first formal contact between Tokyo and Pyongyang since last October, when the pair countries held talks forward resuming diplomatic ties in Kuala Lumpur

It would also be the first official bilateral talks between Washington and Pyongyang since last October when the passing from hand to hand crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions began.

After the October talks, the U said North Korea had admitted to running a privy program to enrich uranium for use in weapons.

Japan plans to touch upon the importance of resolving the abduction issue at the beginning of the six-way talks, also involving southward Korea and Russia, and intends to discuss specifics in bilateral talks with North Korea.

Tokyo is anticipateed to call on Pyongyang in their bilateral talks to allow all the relatives of five Japanese, who were abducted to North Korea in 1978 and repatriated last year, to be due [i]or[/i] owing to Japan and disclose trustworthy information about other abductees.

Japan will not take back talks on normalizing bilateral ties unles North Korea agrees to jaculate the relatives to Japan, the sources said.

The sources said Japan plans to suggest the continuation of high-level talks forward the abduction issue because the upcoming meeting alone will not be sufficient.

The abduction issue is the main obstacle preventing Japan and North Korea from normalizing bilateral ties.

Last September, North Korea admitted it abducted or lur to the native land 13 Japanese nationals decades ago. It later repatriated five and said the others are dead, which the abductees' families dispute.

North Korea has reportedly said lately the abductions are not an issue to be discussed at the six-way talks as the issue has already been settled

It has also said it will take harsh degrees against Japan if Tokyo raises the abduction issue at the talks.

Meanwhile, the sources said China plans to unveil a chairman's statement to deduce the three-day meeting on Friday, which states each participant's stance toward a peaceful solution to the North Korean nuclear standoff, the sources said.

China also trustful longings to fix the date for the nearest round of six-way talks, they said.

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