Topping the list of discussion points is the continuing standoff over the North Korean abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s. Five of them were permitted to return to Japan in late 2002, but their families were not allowed to accompany them. Pyongyang wants the five to return to North Korea, but they have refused.

Japanese media reports say a senior diplomat will lead his government's delegation to the talks, which will take place in Beijing.

This will be the first meeting on the abduction issue since mid-February, when diplomats from Japan and North Korea met on the sidelines of the six-party Korean nuclear talks in Beijing.

North Korea has acknowledged kidnapping 13 Japanese to train as spies. Pyongyang says eight of them have since died.

Japan has hinted it may use economic sanctions to force North Korea into releasing the families of the former abductees who were allowed to go home.

VOA News