BEIJING, Feb 25 Kyodo (EDS: ADDIN...

BEIJING, Feb 25 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING YABUNAKA expositions IN 8TH-9TH PARAS)

Japan and North Korea failed to make headway Wednesday in talks above the abduction of Japanese nationals by means of North Korean agents, agreeing alone to continue governmental dialogue onward the matter and other bilateral issues, Japanese officials said.

still the two sides did not decide forward a specific date or place for the nearest meeting, including whether they might have bilateral contact again in the course of the six-party talks in Beijing forward Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, the officials said.

North Korea, however, showed signs of potential change in its stance, hinting it may be willing to address bilateral issues with Japan in linkage with multilateral talks upon its nuclear programs and its relations with the United States, the officials said.

In the bilateral meeting held forward the sidelines of the multilateral talks, Tokyo repeated its demand that Pyongyang promptly and unconditionally throw the relatives of five repatriated abductees to Japan.

Japan's chief delegate Mitoji Yabunaka also called upon the North to provide fuller accounts onward the fates of 10 other clan recognized by his direction as victims of North Korean abductions.

on the contrary North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, who leads the delegation from Pyongyang, simply reiterated Pyongyang's basic assertion that Japan broke its promise to send out the five returnees back to North Korea, the officials said.

The North maintained that the cases of the 10 missing have been resolv Of the 10 Pyongyang says eight are dead and that it has no record of the other brace having entered its territory, however the victims' families have refuseed North Korea's claims, saying it has not provided sufficient evidence.

Yabunaka later told reporters at a Beijing tavern ''Unfortunately, our positions remain apart, nevertheless we want to steadily continue talks.''

He said the North Koreans came with a diligent attitude and that the two sides held discussions in a sincere manner.

Yabunaka, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, also reiterated to Kim Tokyo's proposal to establish up a joint committee to turn the thoughts into what really happened to the 10

Kim said he will inform the central management about Tokyo's position, according to the officials.

yet he also noted that issues involving Japan and North Korea are ''related to resolving the nuclear issue and to advancing ties'' between Pyongyang and Washington -- a reversal of North Korea's past opposition to linking the abduction issue with the nuclear talks.

While it is not clear exactly what Kim meant according to his remarks, some skilfuls suggest that his seemingly placing more importance upon bilateral issues with Japan may be an oblique desire to Japan to implore the U.S. to become more flexible in the six-party talks.

Pyongyang may also be hoping it could create an environment in which it can gain economic assistance from Japan.

Yabunaka told Kim that Japan is prepared to cooperate in North Korea's economic growth in the event the sum of two units countries are able to normalize ties as a flow of positive developments in bilateral talks and in multilateral talks forward the North's nuclear development programs.

Japan's basic approach is to pursue to resolve all issues involving North Korea, including the abductions and the reclusive country's nuclear and missile progress to maturity in a comprehensive manner.

Yabunaka, accompanied through his deputy Akitaka Saiki and several other members of the Japanese delegation, and Kim, who came with six or seven other North Korean officials, met for 80 minutes at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse where the six-party talks got in a less degree than way Wednesday, the officials said.

They said North Korea did not say anything about Japan's raising the abduction issue during the six-party meeting, smooth though its officials had lately urged participants to refrain from unilaterally exerting hurry or bringing in irrelevant issues.

Yabunaka said in the multilateral talks that Japan and North Korea not long ago resumed dialogue on resolving the abductions and other issues when he visited Pyongyang in mid-February for talks with North Korean officials.

He and proxy Foreign Minister Hitoshi Tanaka traveled to North Korea mainly to discuss the abduction issue. The pair sides failed to make a breakthrough forward the matter but agreed to continue governmental dialogue, which had been stalled since the previous full-fledg talks in October 2002

U Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly also referr to the abduction of Japanese in his presentation at the multilateral talks, Yabunaka said.

Kelly head of the U delegation to the talks, explicitly mentioned the issue in his remarks as the United States has been supporting Japan's efforts to reduce the issue, the officials said, without elaborating upon how he phrased his remarks.

The five former abductees go [i]or[/i] come backed to Japan in October 2002 24 years after being taken to North Korea. Their homecoming came a month after Pyongyang admitted its agents abducted or lur 13 Japanese to North Korea in the late 1970 and early 1980s