A Japanese woman abducted to North Korea decades ago before being repatriated in 2002 urged Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday to hold summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to ensure all those taken by the country can be reunited with their families.
Hitomi Soga, 64, met with Kishida around a month after the premier pledged to pursue high-level negotiations with North Korea to resolve the long-standing issue of abductions by Pyongyang in the 1970s and '80s.
Japan officially lists 17 people as having been taken to North Korea. Five of them, including Soga, returned in 2002, but Pyongyang maintains eight have died and four others never entered the country.
After he received a written request handed over by Soga at his office, Kishida voiced his readiness to get back all the abductees — who also include Soga's mother, who was snatched at the same time as her.
"With the families of the victims aging, the abduction issue is a human rights problem with time constraints," the prime minister said.
Kishida, who became prime minister in October 2021, described the abduction issue as key for his government.
Soga made a similar appeal to then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2018 to bring back all victims by holding direct talks with Kim.
Earlier this year, a group representing the families of the abductees said they would not oppose Japan giving humanitarian aid to North Korea if it would lead to the return of the victims.
Japan has not ruled out doing so if it helps move forward negotiations with Pyongyang on the issue.