BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Negotiators from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Japan began discussing security issue here Tuesday, while the bilateral talks went into the fourth day.

    The talks, which started in the Chinese capital on Saturday, are held in a three-track format covering the abduction issue, normalization of diplomatic ties, and security issue. Each of the three panels will be given a day for talks.

    The panel in charge of the security issue met in a Beijing hotel on Tuesday morning, with Jong Thae Yang, deputy chief of the DPRK Foreign Ministry's U.S. affairs department, and Tadamichi Yamamoto, Japanese ambassador in charge of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, as chief negotiators. The talks will mainly cover the nuclear and missile issue.

    Kim Chol Ho and Kunio Umeda, chief delegates from the DPRK and Japan to the bilateral panel on the abduction issue, met on Sunday and both sides put forward their opinions and stances over the abduction issue. Both sides agreed to continue the talks on this matter.

    The talks on the normalization of diplomatic ties was held on Monday, with Koichi Haraguchi, Japanese ambassador in charge of the Japan-DPRK normalization talks, and Song Il Ho, ambassador of the DPRK in charge of the DPRK-Japan talks, as chief negotiators. The two sides did not reach a full agreement in the talks, but agreed to continue their discussions

    The two sides have not decided yet whether the meeting will continue after the three groups have finished their talks.

    This new round of inter-governmental talks is held after an interval of more than three years. The previous round was held in Malaysia in 2002.

    Previously, the two countries held a meeting in Beijing on Dec.24 and Dec. 25 last year, during which they agreed to set up three working groups on history, security guarantee and abduction issues. Enditem