North Korea and Japan reportedly held a secret meeting in Vietnam in July without informing the United States. 

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the talks were held between Shigeru Kitamura, head of Japan's Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, and Kim Song-hye, a senior North Korean official in charge of reunification. 

The daily said that senior U.S. officials expressed irritation that Japan did not inform the U.S. of the meeting, despite Washington's near-constant updates to Tokyo on its dealings with North Korea. 

The paper said that officials in Tokyo have acknowledged that to negotiate the return of Japanese abductees in North Korea, they cannot rely solely on the U.S. to lobby on Japan's behalf.

[Photo : YONHAP News]