Relatives of Japanese abducted by North Korea hope Kishida raises issue in U.S.

Relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago hope that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will bring up the long-unresolved issue during his state visit to the United States next week.

While not yet firmly decided, family members are also planning to visit the U.S. during the Golden Week holiday period between late this month and early May to meet with lawmakers and rights groups, said Takuya Yokota, the representative of the Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea.

“At the U.S.-Japan summit ... I hope Japan will strongly appeal for a resolution on the abduction case, which is a human rights and humanitarian issue between Japan and North Korea,” he said at a Friday news conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo.