TOKYO, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Japan on Tuesday warned the United States not to impede resolution of a row over North Korea's kidnappings of Japanese nationals as Pyongyang seeks to be taken off a US list of nations supporting terrorism.
US President George W. Bush "has said he will not leave behind the abduction issue. He will not leave it behind," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters.
Chief government spokesman Kaoru Yosano earlier asked the United States to consider Tokyo's sensitivities over the kidnappings by North Korean agents of Japanese civilians during the 1970s and 1980s.
"Their safety is a matter of very strong concern for the government and is the top priority" for Japan, Yosano said.
"We want (the United States), insofar as possible, to steer clear of anything that could affect this issue," he said.
North Korea said Monday the United States had decided to remove the communist state from its list of states sponsoring terrorism.
But The United States said Tuesday that the North needed to take further steps on giving up its nuclear drive, in line with a February six-nation agreement, before it could be taken off the list.
Japan has called on its close ally to keep Pyongyang on the list until a resolution of the emotionally charged row over the Japanese kidnap victims, who were used to train spies in the 1970s and 1980s.
The politically embattled Abe has campaigned on the abduction row throughout his career. He refused to fund February's aid-for-disarmament deal because of the dispute.
However, Yosano said Japan was still considering humanitarian aid to North Korea following recent floods that devastated the country.
"I think humanitarian assistance is an area that can be looked at separately," he said.
North Korea has acknowledged snatching 13 Japanese. It returned five victims and their families and says, to Japan's scepticism, that the rest are dead.
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09/04/2007 12:47 GMT