HANOI, March 7 (Reuters) - An afternoon session of talks in Hanoi between North Korea and Japan was cancelled, the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday.

Japanese and North Korean diplomats met in the morning at the Japanese embassy in the Vietnamese capital on the sensitive issue of Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s.

"The meeting is cancelled," a foreign ministry official said, referring to the follow-on meeting due to be held at the North Korean embassy.

No reason was given by the North Koreans, the official said.

The discussions were part of efforts by the two countries to work toward establishing diplomatic relations under an agreement in six-party talks last month by North Korea to start shutting down its nuclear weapons programme in exchange for millions of dollars in energy aid.

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