By Xinhua,
Tokyo : The Japanese government is to partially lift sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as the DPRK has shown positive stance on resolving the issue of past abduction of Japanese nationals, Japanese official said Friday.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura announced the decision at a press conference after listening to report by Akitaka Saiki, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, who held discussions with DPRK representative on bilateral ties in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday.
The DPRK has agreed to re-investigate the abduction issue and Japan regards the stance as a “certain degree of progress,” the top Japanese government spokesman said.
Japan in return will lift some of the sanctions, including conditionally lifting a ban on DPRK ships entering Japanese ports, Machimura said.
Saiki came back to Tokyo earlier in the day and briefed Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Machimura, and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura in the afternoon about his discussions with Song Il Ho, DPRK’s ambassador for normalization talks with Japan.