JAPAN will send a delegation to North Korea next week to check progress on Pyongyang’s investigation into historic kidnappings, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said today.

North Korea has admitted that its special agents abducted a number of Japanese and South Korean citizens in the 1970s and ’80s, mostly to help train spies although film director Shin Sang-ok was taken to work jointly on films with then heir apparent Kim Jong-il — most famously Pulgasari, a sort of revolutionary version of Godzilla directed by Mr Shin and produced by Mr Kim.

Japan said the visit was intended to remind Pyongyang how seriously Tokyo takes the issue and the location of any surviving abductees.

It hopes for better progress than on previous attempts, since North Korea is currently seeking to court world opinion to avoid being referred to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

The North abruptly released US prisoner Jeffrey Fowle on Tuesday night.