Pro-Pyongyang newspaper says Japanese nationals alive in North Korea

SEOUL, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A pro-Pyongyang newspaper said North Korea could conditionally disclose information on Japanese nationals in the country.

Japan-based Choson Sinbo reported Monday Pyongyang is signaling interest in releasing details on Japanese in North Korea but did not specify whether they were the victims of state-sponsored abduction.

The newspaper instead stated the Japanese nationals were those who remained in North Korea after 1945.

"It has been confirmed the remaining Japanese who stayed on the Korean peninsula after World War II are alive," the report read, adding a "Dr. Cho Hee Seung," a senior researcher at a Japanese research institute has evidence there are Japanese nationals living in the North Korean city of Hamheung, in South Hamgyong Province.

The issue of Japanese nationals in North Korea has been a contentious matter between the two countries ever since 2002, when former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il admitted to the kidnappings.

After North Korea allowed five Japanese abductees to return, it has maintained eight others died and another four were never taken to North Korea.

A dozen abductees are still officially recognized by Tokyo.

Japan has refused to believe North Korea's claims that it cannot locate the whereabouts of some of the abductees on Tokyo's list, and negotiations have veered off course after some progress was made until 2014, when Pyongyang reneged on its promise to provide a preliminary report on the abductees.

On Monday the Choson Sinbo quoted Cho as saying when the time is right and with the consent of the "remaining Japanese" their information could be revealed.

Progress on bilateral negotiations has been stalled since May 2014, when Pyongyang and Tokyo officials confirmed points of an agreement.

Relations have deteriorated in 2016 after North Korean launched dozens of test missiles, some which have landed in Japanese territorial waters.

North Korea is under heavy Japanese sanctions.