Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso says Japan has no plans to hold direct talks with North Korea for now despite the North's decision to return to the six-party nuclear talks.

Aso told reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday that Japan will neither change nor ease sanctions imposed on Pyongyang simply due to the talks' resumption.

Japan’s Sankei Shimbun had reported earlier in the day that the Japanese government will seek direct talks with the North. According to the daily, direct dialogue would seek to resolve long-standing issues like North Korea’s past abductions of Japanese nationals with a view to normalizing bilateral ties now that the communist country has decided to return to the table.

[Photo : ]