Japan and North Korea will hold talks over the weekend on the North's abductions of Japanese citizens and other pending issues, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

A ministry statement said the talks would take place in Beijing on Saturday and Sunday.

The two countries held talks on November 3-4 _ the first in more than a year _ in Beijing on the abductions and other matters, which ended in discord over the North's demands for compensation for Japan's colonial-era rule and Tokyo's questions about the abduction of its citizens by Pyongyang's spies.

Japan's chief delegate Akitaka Saiki and North Korean envoy Song Il ho will discuss the kidnappings, the North's nuclear weapons and missile programs as well as issues concerning the past, according to the statement.

Japan's top spokesman said Tokyo will further press Pyongyang on the abduction issue.

"We will again demand strongly for the return of the survivors, investigations into the matter, and the handover of suspects," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe.

He said it would be impossible for Japan to proceed with discussion of the North's demand for compensation for Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula unless the kidnapping issue is resolved.

North Korea in 2002 admitted to abducting 13 Japanese citizens and allowed five of them to return to Japan, claiming that the other eight victims had died.

But Tokyo says the North has never provided conclusive proof of the deaths, and many in Japan suspect some of the victims may still be alive. Japan also says there are at least several other cases of suspected abductions that North Korea has not properly investigated.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies December 21, 2005)