North Korea said on Wednesday it would not deal with Japan even in the six-party talks due to Japan's unjust stance over the talks and the "abduction issue."  

"The parties concerned except Japan have made every possible effort in various aspects to create an atmosphere for the resumption of the talks, but Japan insisted on bringing up the already settled 'abduction issue' for discussion at the talks, which is not relevant to the main topic of the talks," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary.

The forthcoming six-party talks will start on July 26 in Beijing.

Japan's aim is to create an atmosphere unfavorable for North Korea and fish in troubled waters, it said.

The negative role played by Japan at the previous rounds of the talks compels North Korea not to deal with Japan even if the talks are resumed, it added.

It was reported that Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda and Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said on July 14 and 15 that Japan will raise the "abduction issue" at the July 26 six-party talks.

The commentary stressed that the six-party talks remain unchanged in their basic orientation -- the talks should substantially contribute to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

"Japan will find nothing to do at the future six-party talks even if it attends them unless it drops its crooked viewpoint and way of thinking. Its participation would only create more complexities to the talks," the commentary said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2005)