TOKYO - Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged Tuesday to find a breakthrough to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted in the past by North Korea as she met with a group representing their family members.
"The abduction issue is truly an urgent and grave humanitarian problem with no time to spare," Takaichi said during the meeting with Takuya Yokota, who heads the group, and others at her office in Tokyo.
Takaichi, who took office in October last year, vowed to continue pursuing "various approaches through various channels" to work on North Korea, which has no diplomatic ties with Japan, and "make a breakthrough during my tenure at any cost."
She also said that U.S. President Donald Trump "made a commitment of strong support" for finding a solution when they met in New York in September on the fringes of the U.N. General Assembly.
At the Tuesday meeting, Yokota, whose sister Megumi was abducted to North Korea in 1977 from Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast at age 13 and has become a symbol of the issue, explained his U.S. visit last month to seek further assistance from Washington to achieve the return of the abductees.
Japan officially lists 17 citizens as having been abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, with five repatriated in 2002. The Japanese government also alleges Pyongyang's involvement in many other disappearances.
The aging of the abductees' families increases the urgency for the government to make progress on the issue, but North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear and missile programs makes diplomacy and outreach difficult.
