The US policy on the North Korea

The U.S. State Department on Monday once again named North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism in its “Country Reports” for 2006. But this time, the U.S. government deleted the issue of 485 South Koreans abducted by North Korea, which was mentioned in previous country reports. The U.S. government, however, retained its reference to the 12 Japanese citizens abducted by the communist country. Last year’s report said, “The South Korean government estimates 485 of its citizens have been abducted and detained since the Korean War.”

The deletion appears to be a desperate countermeasure to get North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program. North Korea has continued to demand Washington to remove its name from the list of terror sponsors May.2,2007chosun ilbo

There is an interesting analysis on this edtitorial on Lost Nomad
But I want to focus on another issue. A Japanese blogger argues that you can not expect the US as much as Japanese expect her to do.
Bush said,

"And I will never forget her visit and I will work with my friend and the Japanese government to get this issue resolved in a way that touches the human heart, in a way that -- it's got more than just a, kind of a diplomatic ring to it, as far as I'm concerned. It's a human issue now to me; it's a tangible, emotional issue."

In other words, he does not want to put it on the political table, but he wants to put this issue aside as a political agenda in relation to North Korea, which is inconsistent with Abe's policy.
Another Japanese analyst argue the US want to keep a certain distance from Japan, fearing it could antagonize China.
Let's wait and see how the US-Japan relation would go.