Tokyo bucked rough waves Tuesday as it tried to stay the course of maintaining dialogue with Pyongyang, a day after a delegation returned with North Korean information that many deemed insufficient. Pyongyang had basically repeated that the 10 missing-presumed abducted-Japanese were either dead or had not entered the country.

Top officials said Tuesday that while they noticed changes in Pyongyang's behavior, they were not convinced by the answers or evidence provided by North Korea.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has stressed that more talks, not economic sanctions, are in order to clear up questions that remain. For the time being, the government appeared willing to remain mum on what it plans to do next.

``We have to see how long it will take to review the items brought back. We would like to decide after conducting the review,'' Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference, regarding follow-up talks.

Asked whether the government would consider sanctions, Machimura reiterated, ``We will decide after a close review.''

As to verifying the ashes Pyongyang had presented as being those of abductee Megumi Yokota, it will likely take about ``one week to 10 days,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a separate news conference.

While fearing that public outrage similar to that in September 2002, when North Korea admitted the abductions, could trigger calls for sanctions and a disruption of talks, officials acknowledge that public protest has helped convince Pyongyang that it should be more forthcoming.

The government will have a short respite from the issue because Koizumi and Foreign Minister Machimura will be attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Santiago, Chile, and then an international conference on Iraq held by the G-8 and other nations in Egypt. The two are scheduled to return Nov. 25.

However, calls for sanctions are beginning to grow even within Koizumi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Members of the LDP abduction-issue committee unanimously agreed that the time was ripe for implementing sanctions, but added that they would wait for the review of evidence before pressing for action.

``We agreed that North Korea's current stance is unacceptable, and it is time that we exercise sanctions to encourage them to take a sincere stand,'' said LDP Deputy Secretary-General Shinzo Abe, who heads the committee.

But he did not specify a time frame or scope for sanctions, only saying the committee would keep an eye on the review of evidence.

A group of LDP lawmakers who have written two sanction bills said that it would begin studying possible scenarios for implementing the sanctions.

Families of the abductees and a parliamentarian group dealing with the issue released a statement calling on the government to freeze the distribution of 125,000 tons of food aid, part of the 250,000 tons of food pledged to North Korea for distribution through international organizations.

``No real progress was attained through the talks. It is time that we show the tough side of diplomacy to gain progress,'' said Takeo Hiranuma, an LDP Lower House member and chairman of the parliamentarian league.(IHT/Asahi: November 17,2004)