N. Korea's Nuclear Test to Further Delay Abduction Talks

   Tokyo, Jan. 6 (Jiji Press)--North Korea's alleged hydrogen bomb test on Wednesday is seen causing a further delay in talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang on the reclusive state's past abductions of Japanese nationals.
   The North Korean action has put Japan in a dilemma. Japan now needs to work for international cooperation to add pressure on the reclusive state, though the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has long hoped to make progress on the abduction issue through the intergovernmental talks.
   To address the abduction issue is "a top-priority task for the Abe cabinet," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference Wednesday. "We will respond (to the North Korean action) while considering what counts most."
   In July 2014, the Abe administration lifted some of Japan's sanctions against North Korea, in exchange for North Korea's launch of a special committee to reinvestigate the abduction issue.
   "We managed to open the door for negotiations which had been tightly shut," Abe stressed at a parliamentary committee meeting a year later. "We finally caught a lead and shouldn't lose it."

(2016/01/06-23:58)