N Korea demands return of remains

North Korea says kidnap victim Megumi Yokota committed suicide

North Korea has demanded the return of human remains it gave to Tokyo in a bid to identify a missing Japanese woman.

Japan said DNA tests proved the remains were not those of Megumi Yokota, whom Pyongyang admits kidnapping in 1977.

Tokyo is expected to make public its analysis of the remains on Friday, and has described the issue as a "major obstacle" to ties with Pyongyang.

North Korea insists the remains are genuine and said Megumi Yokota's husband has asked for them back.

The Korean Central news agency said North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), had made "sincere efforts" to confirm the whereabouts of the Japanese nationals Pyongyang admits kidnapping.

"Now that the ultra-right elements of Japan insist that the remains are not those of Megumi... the DPRK cannot but urge the Japanese side to return them just as they were along with the DNA test data as demanded by the husband of Megumi," the agency said.

Tokyo expressed its "extreme regret" at North Korea earlier this month after DNA tests showed the remains were not those of Megumi Yokota.

JAPAN'S MISSING Snatched in the '70s and '80s Used as cultural trainers for N Korean spies Five allowed home in 2002 Five children now freed from N Korea Eight said to be dead, others missing Heartbreak over Japan's missing

Japanese Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said at the time the issue was now a "major obstacle" to ties, and said food aid to the North should be re-evaluated.

Megumi Yokota was 13 when she was taken away by North Korean agents in 1977 to train its spies. Pyongyang said she committed suicide in 1994.

But many in Japan are sceptical - believing she is alive and being detained because she knows too much about the secretive country - and had called for proof that she was dead.

The remains were brought back by a Japanese delegation in November after a fact-finding mission about kidnap victims who have gone missing in the North.

Pyongyang admitted in 2002 to abducting 13 Japanese nationals, who were to be used as cultural trainers for North Korean spies.

Five were allowed to return to Japan, while North Korea said the others had died.