The head of a Japanese group of families whose relatives were abducted by North Korea has called on the new government to work for the return of the abductees.
The group’s leader, Yokota Takuya, spoke to NHK after Ishiba Shigeru was elected as Japan’s new prime minister.
Yokota said Ishiba is Japan’s thirteenth prime minister since the group was established in 1997.
He said the group has asked many leaders in the past to bring the abductees back, but only five have returned to Japan.
Yokota said the group hopes the new government will maintain the policy of seeking the immediate return of all abductees at the same time.
He also said he strongly hopes parents will be able to see their abducted children again.
The group’s leader is a younger brother of Yokota Megumi, who was kidnapped in 1977 at the age of 13.
The Japanese government says at least 17 of its citizens were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 80s. Five returned to Japan after a bilateral summit in Pyongyang in September, 2002. But the other 12 remain unaccounted for.