SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's Red Cross will hold talks with its Japanese counterpart later this week, its state news media said Tuesday, a meeting likely to touch upon the issue of repatriating remains of Japanese people who died in the North.

   "Talks between the DPRK Red Cross Society and Japan Red Cross Society will be held in Beijing, China on August 9 and 10," the (North) Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch, referring to the North by its official name Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

   The news outlet did not elaborate on what issues the talks will deal with.

   Analysts expect the meeting is likely to center on discussions over repatriating remains of Japanese people who died in the reclusive country.

   In May, Hwang Ho-nam, an official at the North's foreign liaison office, expressed to a visiting Japanese official the country's willingness to repatriate Japanese people who remained in what is now North Korea following the Pacific War and died in the country.

   pbr@yna.co.kr
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