Wednesday marks 20 years since the second Japan-North Korea summit, which led to the return of five family members of Japanese nationals who had been abducted by North Korean agents. The Japanese chief cabinet secretary renewed a vow to bring back the rest of the abductees.
In 2002, Japan's then-Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro visited Pyongyang for a summit with then-North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. This led to the return of five abductees.
Koizumi visited Pyongyang again in 2004. This second summit resulted in five family members of the returned abductees moving to Japan from North Korea. But negotiations have since stalled.
The Japanese government says at least 17 of its citizens were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. Twelve of them still remain unaccounted for.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa said on Wednesday it is extremely regrettable that not a single abductee has returned over the past 20 years.
He says he heard the desperate pleas of the abductees' families directly and felt a renewed sense of urgency, recognizing that time is running out for resolving the issue.
He pledged that the government will do all it can to bring all the abductees home as soon as possible.