North Korea has asked Japan to return remains Pyongyang claims belong to a Japanese woman kidnapped decades ago.

The demand, published by North Korean state-run media, comes after Japanese forensic experts said the remains were not those of Megumi Yokota, who was kidnapped in 1977.

North Korea says Ms. Yokota committed suicide in 1994, and accused certain forces in Japan of faking the test results to promote anti-Pyongyang sentiment.

Japanese media reported Wednesday that Tokyo will ask North Korea conduct another investigation into the fate of eight kidnap victims from the 1970s and 1980s that Pyongyang says have died, as well as two more whose status is unclear.