North Korea probe on Japan abductees in early stage - Japan government

TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea has told Japan it can only give a preliminary report on the status of its investigation into the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang decades ago and of other missing Japanese, the government spokesman in Tokyo said on Friday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said resolving the emotive dispute over the abductees is a top priority for his administration. In 2002, North Korea admitted kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to help train spies. Five abductees and their families later returned to Japan.