Officials from Japan and North Korea will convene in Pyongyang Tuesday to discuss the fate of some ten Japanese nationals who are suspected of having been kidnapped by North Korean agents.

During the four-day talks, Japan is set to step up pressure on the North to provide convincing information about the abductees as Japanese government leaders, lawmakers and the victims' families continue to grow impatient over the lack of progress in the bilateral dialogue.

Japan has expressed dissatisfaction over data released by the North during the previous two rounds of abductee talks and over the course of Pyongyang's reinvestigation of the abductions. Pyongyang insists that eight of the kidnapping victims died in the intervening years and claims to not know the fate of two others.

In addition, Japan is expected to urge Pyongyang to promptly return to the negotiating table to settle the ongoing nuclear standoff.