"I want to know what the Foreign Ministry has been doing for the last 20 years." Akihiro Arimoto, father of Keiko Arimoto, one of the Japanese abductees whose death was confirmed by North Korea Tuesday. (Yomiuri Shimbun)
TOKYO — The Japanese government has begun efforts to have the four abducted Japanese living in North Korea repatriated soon and to look into the deaths of the other eight abducted by the North, Japanese sources said Wednesday.
With the four expressing a desire to return and the North Korean government consenting, Japan wants them repatriated "by the time negotiations to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries resume," a Japanese official said.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told the families of the abductees in Tokyo on Wednesday morning that the government will set up a new arm inside the Cabinet Office to scrutinize the abduction cases. The agency will also deal with the return of those found alive in North Korea.
Abe, who accompanied Koizumi to Pyongyang on Tuesday, briefed the families on the abductees based on information provided by North Korea and apologized to the relatives.
TOKYO — The Japanese government has begun efforts to have the four abducted Japanese living in North Korea repatriated soon and to look into the deaths of the other eight abducted by the North, Japanese sources said Wednesday.
With the four expressing a desire to return and the North Korean government consenting, Japan wants them repatriated "by the time negotiations to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries resume," a Japanese official said.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told the families of the abductees in Tokyo on Wednesday morning that the government will set up a new arm inside the Cabinet Office to scrutinize the abduction cases. The agency will also deal with the return of those found alive in North Korea.
Abe, who accompanied Koizumi to Pyongyang on Tuesday, briefed the families on the abductees based on information provided by North Korea and apologized to the relatives.