Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has met with the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and said he will make all-out efforts to quickly bring them home.
It was the first such meeting since Ishiba became prime minister, taking place Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Yokota Takuya, the head of an abductees' family group, was among those who attended. He is the younger brother of Yokota Megumi, who was abducted by North Korea in 1977 at the age of 13.
Megumi's mother, Sakie, was also there. Also in attendance were Iizuka Koichiro, whose mother, Taguchi Yaeko, was abducted and Arimoto Akihiro, whose daughter, Keiko, was kidnapped.
Ishiba told the families the abductions were a violation of national sovereignty. He said he shared their sentiment that there was not much time left to resolve the issue and he would do his best.
Ishiba added that it is extremely important for the leaders of Japan and North Korea to exchange frank opinions from a broad perspective.
He said his administration would examine past efforts to work out the most effective measures to achieve a resolution.
Yokota Takuya told Ishiba that he is the 13th prime minister the group has met.
He said the group demands that the abductees be repatriated as soon as possible while their parents are still alive.
Takuya also said the group strongly opposes Ishiba's idea of setting up liaison offices in Japan and North Korea to resolve the issue.
He said that would only help the North buy time and then put an end to the issue. He said there is no need to accommodate North Korea's wishes.
Yokota Sakie said she will never give up on seeing all the abductees returned to Japan, noting that she wants them to experience the joy of being back home.
She asked that a Japan-North Korea summit be held as soon as possible.
The Japanese government says at least 17 of its citizens were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. Five returned in 2002, but the other 12 remain unaccounted for.
(nhk.or.jp)
