TOKYO, Dec 31: North Korea has hinted at breaking off talks with Japan over the fate of Japanese citizens abducted decades ago, saying Pyongyang no longer sees significance in maintaining contact, Kyodo news agency said on Friday.

In a report from Beijing, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying on Thursday: "There is no need to grant further significance to contact between the governments of Japan and North Korea." No further details were given.

The spokesman also said that North Korea cannot recognize or accept a recent Japanese report on Pyongyang's investigation into the fate of 10 Japanese Tokyo believes were kidnapped decades ago.

Calls have been rising in Japan for economic sanctions against North Korea, and Tokyo threatened last week to take "harsh" action unless the reclusive communist state responded "sincerely" to calls to reinvestigate the fate of the abducted Japanese. -Reuters