Negotiators from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Japan continued bilateral talks in Beijing Sunday morning, with focus on the abduction issue.

The talks, started in the Chinese capital on Saturday afternoon, is held in a three-track format covering abduction issue, normalization of diplomatic ties, and security issue. The three panels will each be given a day for talks.

The Japanese head negotiator on the panel on the abduction issue is Kunio Umeda, deputy chief of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau. His DPRK counterpart is Kim Chol Ho, head of the Foreign Ministry's Japanese affairs section, a Japanese official said on condition of anonymity.

The panel in charge of normalization of diplomatic ties will meet on Monday, with Koichi Haraguchi, Japanese ambassador in charge of the Japan-DPRK normalization talks, and Song Il Ho, ambassador in charge of the DPRK-Japan talks under the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as chief negotiators.

Tadamichi Yamamoto, Japanese ambassador in charge of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, and Jong Thae Yang, deputy chief of the DPRK Foreign Ministry's U.S. affairs department, will meet on Tuesday to discuss the nuclear and missile issue.

The two sides have not decided yet whether the meeting will continue after the three groups have finished their talks.

This new round of inter-governmental talks was held after a more than three-year interval. The previous round of talks was held in Malaysia in 2002.

Previously, the two countries held a meeting in Beijing on Dec. 24-25 last year, during which they agreed to set up three working groups on history, security guarantee and abduction issues.

Source: Xinhua