The group, which is attached to the Cabinet and chaired by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Sugiura Seiken, is composed of bureau directors from relevant ministries and bodies such as the Foreign Ministry, Police and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro told reporters that as this problem was not only limited to Japan, solidarity with other nations needed to be strengthened. He said Japan must seek a sincere response from the North through dialogue and pressure.

The six-point program adopted Tuesday calls first for ascertaining the truth about what happened to Japanese kidnap victims and immediately repatriating survivors. Secondly it demands an explanation of what punitive measures were meted out to those involved in the kidnappings and thirdly it calls to temporarily halt humanitarian assistance.

The fourth measure calls to strictly enforce the current monitoring system, including ship inspections, while the fifth point warns of "tough measures" if North Korea fails to respond in a prompt and convincing manner. The final point insists that intelligence continue to be collected on confirmed or suspected kidnap victims.

Japan is also eager to add closure to a case in which it received incomplete records from North Korea claiming that two individuals had been punished - one with death - for their involvement in the kidnappings. Certain parts of the documents were erased, leaving confusing blanks instead of detailed accounts.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Sugiura explained that economic sanctions were not discussed at the meeting, but such actions could be considered within the "tough measures" umbrella mentioned in the six-point plan.

(Jung Gwon-hyeon, khjung@chosun.com )