The government may consider offering livelihood support to Japanese who went to Pyongyang as spouses of North Koreans decades ago and who have since returned to Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Monday.
"That is a problem we have to ponder in various ways," Fukuda said without elaborating.
But before such support can be offered, it will be necessary for the government to take into account the respective reasons why they went to North Korea, Fukuda said, pointing out that some did so of their own free will.