Japan and North Korea have agreed to reopen an inquiry into Pyongyang's abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, Japanese reports say.

Agreement came when envoys of the two states, which have no diplomatic ties, met in China as part of broader talks on North Korea's nuclear programme.

In 2002, North Korea admitted that it had kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens to help train its spies in Japanese ways.

It said five had been returned to their families and the other eight had died.

But Japan insists that North Korea abducted more people than it acknowledges, and wants more proof of the eight deaths...