Japan keeps lines open

Japan's Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura says it is necessary to hold bilateral talks with North Korea secretly, but declined to comment on reports the two countries were holding informal talks.

"It is necessary to hold talks below surface when needed," Komura said, adding that it was North Korea's responsibility to clarify the fate of Japanese nationals abducted by the North. Japan believes they are still alive.

Pyongyang admitted in 2002 that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s, five of whom have since been repatriated.