Delegations from Japan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the fourth round of six-party talks made bilateral contacts here Tuesday for a short time, a Japanese official told a news briefing here.

Heads of the two delegations, Sasae Kenichiro, director general of the Asia and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese foreign ministry, and Kim Kye-gwan, DPRK vice foreign minister, met after the opening session of the fourth round of six-party talks on Tuesday morning, said the Japanese official in condition of anonymity.

They did not sit down during the meeting, but just standing for a while, he said.

He declined to make comments on the specific contents of the bilateral contacts. "Japan had always asked the DPRK to sit down for negotiations, while receiving no response from the DPRK," he said.

The DPRK said previously it would not deal with Japan even in the six-party talks due to Japan's unjust stance over the talks and the " abduction issue."

"Japan insisted on bringing up the already settled 'abduction issue' for discussion at the talks, which is not relevant to the main topic of the talks," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary.

Source: Xinhua