Japan and North Korea begin their first full-fledged talks in more than three years on Thursday seeking to resolve long-standing disputes that have blocked the Asian neighbors from establishing diplomatic ties.

But even before they sit down at the negotiating table in Beijing, the former bitter enemies sparred over the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago, the main sticking point in their talks.

The talks between foreign ministry officials from the two countries come after North Korea agreed in principle in September to dismantle its nuclear arms programmes in exchange for aid and better ties with Washington and Tokyo.

The Beijing meetings are expected to last at least two days and will be the first comprehensive talks between Japan and North Korea since October 2002, when the two sides met in Kuala Lumpur, officials and analysts said.

A failure to improve ties could hamper the six-party process on North Korea's nuclear arms programmes because Tokyo is reluctant to give large-scale aid to Pyongyang in return for abandoning its nuclear ambitions.

The next round of six-party talks among North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States is likely to take place next week.

Tokyo has offered full-scale financial aid to impoverished North Korea, but only after diplomatic ties are established.

"As long as negotiations between Japan and North Korea are stalled, it is difficult for the six-party talks on the North Korea nuclear issue to move forward," said Hajime Izumi, a Korea expert at the University of Shizuoka near Tokyo.

"If North Korea is to receive everything it wants, it will have to improve ties with Japan and the United States."

Japanese officials said Tokyo would press for progress on the emotional abduction issue and would try to win a firm pledge from Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear arms and missile programmes.

The two countries' representatives sparred over the abduction issue at the United Nations in New York on Monday, when Japanese ambassador Kenzo Oshima accused Pyongyang of failing to explain the situation.

North Korea's envoy reacted angrily.

"We did our best so far," said Kim Chang Guk, North Korean deputy permanent representative. "But on your part, Japan, so far we did not see any real intention or willingness to peacefully resolve the issues."

No major aid before normalization

At this week's talks, North Korea is expected to press for settlement of issues stemming from Japan's harsh 35-year colonial rule of the Korean peninsula until 1945.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologized for Tokyo's actions at a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in September 2002, but he rejected demands for reparations.

Instead, the two leaders agreed to discuss Japanese aid for Pyongyang later. Japan gave South Korea US$500 million when the two countries normalized ties in 1965, and some analysts have said Tokyo could provide up to US$10 billion to the impoverished North.

Japanese officials said Tokyo would use the Beijing talks to press Pyongyang to resolve the thorny issue of Japanese citizens it kidnapped from Japan in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies.

The feud over the kidnappings, the main obstacle to normalizing ties, intensified after DNA tests showed that bones handed over to Japanese diplomats a year ago were not those of Japanese abductees, as North Korea had claimed.

North Korea has admitted abducting 13 people, five of whom have returned to Japan with their children. Pyongyang says the other eight are dead.

But Japan has been pressing for further information on the eight and another three who Tokyo says were also kidnapped.

North Korea says the matter is closed, but during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the last round of six-party talks in September it told Japan it was considering demands on the issue.

Nobutaka Machimura, who was replaced as Japan's foreign minister in cabinet reshuffle on Monday, said last week that Tokyo would use "dialogue and pressure" to persuade North Korea to resolve the abduction issue.

"The abduction issue is a major theme for Japan, and Japan cannot handle possible economic assistance and energy aid for North Korea unless there is progress over the issue," Machimura told South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon last week.

Relatives of the abductees and their political supporters want Japan to harden its stance and impose economic sanctions on North Korea to force the reclusive communist state to shed more light on the abductees.

Pyongyang has warned that any imposition of sanctions by Japan would be tantamount to a declaration of war.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies November 2, 2005)