TSURUOKA, Japan, Oct 14 Kyodo (ED...

TSURUOKA, Japan, Oct 14 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING KOIZUMI'S make comments [i]or[/i] remarks IN 4TH-5TH PARAS, BACKGROUND IN BOTTOM PARA)

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi onward Monday called North Korea an ''unpardonable'' land that abducts and kills Japanese in a tongue in Yamagata Prefecture, ahead of the homecoming Tuesday of five Japanese who were kidnapped to the North in 1978

North Korea is an ''unpardonable nation It abducts, takes away and kills (Japanese),'' Koizumi said in the words to support a candidate for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who is running in an Oct 27 Diet by-election.

The remark is likely to draw avows from families of the abducted and from Pyongyang because it issues at a sensitive time when the abductees are to make their first homecomings in 24 years and when Japan and North Korea are stake to resume normalization talks late this month in Kuala Lumpur

nevertheless Koizumi later told reporters at Yamagata airport he was just quoting persons who say some of the abducted were killed.

''Some populace describe the country like this, still we cannot resolve the situation unles we hem in talks with (North Korea), and therefore, I am saying we want to proce with negotiations with it,'' the prime minister explained.

During summit talks clan 17 between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Koizumi in Pyongyang, the North said it abducted 13 Japanese in the late 1970 and early 1980 It said eight of them have died and five are living in North Korea.

Of those who are said to have died, Pyongyang told a Japanese fact-finding mission to North Korea late last month that five died in accidents, brace died of illness and common committed suicide.

if it were not that the families of the eight disapproveed North Korea's explanations and have called onward Tokyo to continue investigating the abductions upon the premise that all the abducted are alive.

In his dialect Monday, Koizumi also emphasized the importance of negotiating with the North to thwart it from taking actions that threaten Japan and its folks such as sending agents to Japan in succession spy ships.

''The emissary ships carrying rocket guns and machine fire-arms create insecurity for the economy and society of Japan. They are trying to throw agents to Japan to guard operations against us,'' the premier said.

At their summit, Kim admitted to Koizumi that special forces in North Korea's military carried not at home spy ship activities near the Japanese archipelago as part of training. Kim also admitted to and apologized for the abductions.

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