Japan and North Korea held a secret meeting in Mongolia in mid-May, a South Korean newspaper said Thursday, with Tokyo seeking to resolve the issue of Pyongyang's past abductions of Japanese nationals.
The Japanese delegation at the meeting near Ulaanbaatar included a politician, while the North Korean side comprised three people, including an individual related to the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea's intelligence agency, the JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing multiple sources.
The newspaper also reported that Japan and North Korea were expected to meet last week in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, but quoted a separate source as saying, "It is unclear whether (the contact) was made as planned."
On May 11, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed to strengthen efforts to realize a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in an attempt to bring back the abductees, saying he would "promote high-level bilateral negotiations" under his direct command.
The secret meeting took place despite Kim's sister Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in North Korea's ruling Workers' Party of Korea, saying in a statement in March that she rejected any contacts or negotiations with Japan.
In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency in February, Kim Yo Jong said there "may come a day" when Kishida visits Pyongyang if Japan does not make the abduction issue an "obstacle" between the two countries.
Japan and North Korea have no official diplomatic ties. Five abductees were returned to Japan in 2002 after then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met in Pyongyang with Kim Jong Il, in the first-ever summit of the countries' leaders.
