The families of a dozen missing Japanese believed to have been abducted to North Korea will file simultaneous complaints with police on Jan. 29, their support group said Sunday.
They will allege that unknown people abducted their relatives for the purpose of taking them forcibly to North Korea, the group said.
The complaints will be filed with the prefectural police covering areas where the 12 people are believed to have disappeared: Aomori, Chiba, Fukuoka, Hokkaido, Niigata, Saitama, Shizuoka, Tottori, Toyama, Yamaguchi and Yamanashi prefectures.
The same day, the Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea (COMJAN) will ask the National Police Agency to reopen the investigations into the cases and request assistance from the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
"The complaints will not lead to an immediate resolution, but they are meant to ask for further efforts by police and other government organizations, and boost inquiries into the cases of these and other missing people," COMJAN head Kazuhiro Araki said.
The 12 include Shinichi Mizushima, who disappeared at age 18 in 1968 from Toyama Prefecture; Hiroshi Saito, 18, who went missing in 1968 in Hokkaido; Yutaka Imai, 18, missing since 1969 from Aomori; Masayuki Oyashiki, 16, missing since 1969 from Shizuoka; Kumiko Kato, 22, missing since 1970 from Fukuoka; and Noriko Furukawa, 18, missing since 1973 from Chiba.
The others are Takashi Osawa, 27, missing since 1974 from Niigata; Tomiko Kunihiro, 24, missing since 1976 from Yamaguchi; Akira Araki, 29, missing since 1977 from Saitama; Kyoko Matsumoto, 29, missing since 1977 from Tottori; Miho Yamamoto, 20, missing since 1984 from Yamanashi; and Etsuko Sasaki, 27, missing since 1991 from Saitama.
The families and COMJAN asked in November that the government review the cases of the 12 missing people as well as four others who COMJAN believes were highly likely abducted by the North.