Talks Planned With N. Korea to Build Ties

Japan and North Korea have agreed to set up working groups to resolve key issues preventing the Asian neighbors from establishing diplomatic ties, a Japanese envoy said.

North Korea agreed to set up the three working groups to discuss the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, and the normalization of ties between the two nations, said Akitaka Saiki, Japan’s chief negotiator at talks in Beijing. Saiki said the next negotiations would take place in Beijing in late January.