Japan to ease some sanctions on North Korea in return for investigation into fate of abductees

TOKYO – Japan says it will lift some of the sanctions it has imposed on North Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the decision Thursday but provided no immediate details.

The lifting of the sanctions is in return for North Korea's promise to reinvestigate the fate of Japanese who were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.

Even a partial thaw could provide Pyongyang with a small but potentially meaningful boost to its recent efforts at promoting international tourism and, perhaps farther down the road, increased trade.