The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday lashed out at Japan's role in the six-party talks, saying Japan is "desperately obstructing a fair solution of the nuclear issue."

In a commentary carried out by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the DPRK accused Japan of "playing once again a very bad role at the six-party talks slated to be resumed in future."

"It (Japan) raised the abduction issue, which has nothing to do with the agenda of the talks, poisoning the atmosphere of the talks," said the KCNA.

In the 2002 DPRK-Japan summit, the DPRK confirmed that its agents had abducted 13 Japanese, and that those held responsible for the abduction were punished.

The DPRK always says that Japan's emphasizing of the importance of the "abduction issue" was solely aimed at embarrassing the DPRK during six-party talks and evading the settlement of its past crimes.

The commentary also said that Japan "is desperately obstructing a fair solution of the nuclear issue on the peninsula in a bid to achieve political and military aims."

Chief negotiators of China, the DPRK and the United States held bilateral and trilateral talks in Beijing last week, agreeing to resume the six-party talks as soon as possible. A date for the next talks has yet to be set.

The talks, involving China, the DPRK, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan, Russia and the United States, have been stalled since November last year when the DPRK refused to return to the talks in protest of U.S. sanctions.

The DPRK announced on Oct. 9 that it had conducted a successful underground nuclear test, which drew widespread opposition from the international community.

The United Nations Security Council on Oct. 14 unanimously adopted a resolution imposing sanctions on the DPRK as punishment for the test.

Source: Xinhua