Relatives of Yasushi Chimura and Fukie Hamamoto, who were abducted to North Korea and listed by Pyongyang as still being alive, asked the Fukui Prefectural Government on Tuesday to help bring the pair home.
Chimura's father, Tamotsu, 75, and Hamamoto's brother, Yuko, 73, traveled to the capital to meet Koji Seki, chairman of the Fukui Prefectural Assembly, and Fukui Gov. Yukio Kurita.
Chimura and Hamamoto, now 47, were together when they vanished from Obama, Fukui Prefecture, on July 7, 1978, about a week after they were engaged to be married. They were 23 at the time.
At the historic Sept. 17 summit between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, Pyongyang reported that the two are married to each other and living in Pyongyang with their three children.