A man who was held by North Korea for more than 20 years before being repatriated in 2002 renewed a call for other Japanese abductees to be returned as soon as possible as Pyongyang conducts its second probe into their whereabouts.

"We have to make (the return) of the remaining people happen as early as possible," Kaoru Hasuike, 56, said in a speech in the city of Saitama.

If the negotiations between the two countries on the abduction issue end without progress, he said Saturday, "I wonder how large that psychological damage would be" for those left behind.