(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) North Korea has informed Japan that its investigation into the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by its agents decades ago is still in an initial stage, the top government spokesman said here Friday.
"Through the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, North Korea said on Thursday that the investigation is proceeding, but still in its initial stage, and the entire probe will take around the year," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.
"The North is not ready to release anything beyond its initial findings," Suga said, adding that the timing of North Korea's first report on its full-scale investigation into Japanese nationals abducted by the North and other missing Japanese is unclear.
Pyongyang's preliminary report was initially expected to be released between late summer and early autumn. "We will continue to seek North Korea's speedy, comprehensive and overall investigation with sincerity," he said.
Japan lifted part of its sanctions on North Korea in July in return for Pyongyang's reopening of the investigation into the whereabouts of Japanese citizens it abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.
The abduction issue has prevented Tokyo and Pyongyang from normalizing relations. Japan officially lists 17 nationals as having been abducted by North Korean agents, mostly to train as spies, but believes there are more cases.
In 2002, the North returned five of the 17, but Japan continues to seek the return of the remaining 12 people. Of the 12, the North claims eight have died and four others never entered the country.
In addition, the Japanese National Police Agency said the number of victims suspected to have been abducted by North Korea exceeds 880.
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