Ri Pyong Dok, a North Korean Foreign Ministry official in charge of Japan, said in an interview with Kyodo News that Kyoko Matsumoto never entered the communist nation.

"We have notified Japan that Ms. Matsumoto has not entered our territory up to this point," Kyodo quoted Ri as saying.

Ri's comment was the first public reaction by a North Korean official on Matsumoto's alleged abduction.

Pyongyang has admitted to abducting 13 Japanese in the 1970s and '80s to coach its spies in Japanese language and culture. Matsumoto was not among those named by North Korea.

Her addition to the government's official list of abductees in November was Tokyo's latest effort to pressure Pyongyang to disclose more information about the issue.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refused to accept Ri's denial, saying he is "confident" about the Matsumoto case.

"North Korea must respond to us with sincerity," Abe said.

The Japan Times Weekly: Dec. 2, 2006
(C) All rights reserved