Japan to Give N. Korea Tons of Rice

TOKYO — The Japanese government said Tuesday that it will give hunger-stricken North Korea 100,000 tons of rice and will reopen talks on normalizing relations.

Tokyo is restarting talks with the Communist regime in North Korea because diplomatic ties are essential for stability across the region, Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki said.

Officials will hold the first round of talks in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, the second in Tokyo, and the third in Beijing or another country, Aoki said.

Talks were to begin in April, but no dates have been set, said Katsutoshi Takeda, a Foreign Ministry official. No date was announced for sending the food, which will go through the United Nations World Food Program, Takeda said.

Japan and North Korea have never had formal diplomatic ties, Takeda said.

The talks on normalizing relations were suspended amid accusations by Tokyo that the reclusive Stalinist state abducted Japanese citizens as part of its spy training.

Tokyo last sent food aid to North Korea in 1997. It froze the program after North Korea fired a three-stage rocket over northern Japan in August 1998, rattling nerves across Asia. The rocket landed in the Pacific Ocean.