TOKYO - JAPAN will not provide economic aid to North Korea until there is progress on a dispute over the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago, Prime Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday.

The fate of the abductees is a highly emotive topic in Japan, and Tokyo has refused to take part in energy aid as part of a multilateral deal aimed at ending the secretive communist state's nuclear programme until the abduction dispute is resolved.

Japan's government has come fire under from some domestic media and relatives of kidnapped Japanese for failing to persuade the United States not to remove North Korea from its terrorist blacklist until the feud over the abductees is settled.

The United States, seeking to revive faltering talks on denuclearisation by North Korea, removed it from the list after Pyongyang agreed to measures to verify its nuclear facilities.

The step had been held up by Tokyo's objections until the issue of the abduction of Japanese nationals was addressed.

'We have said before that unless progress is made in Japan-North Korea relations, including on the abductees issue, then we will not participate in the economic and energy aid under the six-party talks, and there is no change in that stance,' Mr Aso told a parliamentary committee.

In a broad accord struck in 2005 between countries involved in the six-party talks - China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Russia and the United States - Pyongyang agreed to abandon all nuclear programmes in exchange for potential economic and diplomatic benefits.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a news conference that while both the United States and South Korea understood Japan's stance, Seoul wants Tokyo to join others in resuming aid for North Korea.

'But there is no change in our stance that unless the abductees issue made progress, we cannot respond' to requests for resuming financial assistance to North Korea, Mr Kawamura said.

Aso also said Tokyo would continue seeking a return of all surviving abductees held in the communist state.

'We will do our investigation on the abductees all over again in a prompt manner, and seek the return of all the survivors. That is our basic stance, which remains unchanged,' Mr Aso said.

The abductee issue has grabbed huge media attention in Japan ever since North Korea admitted in 2002 that its agents had abducted 13 Japanese.

Five were repatriated that year, but Japan wants more information about eight who the North insists are dead and another four Japan says were also kidnapped.

Mr Kawamura said ministers would meet on Wednesday to confirm the government's resolve to address the issue. -- REUTERS