A top US diplomat on Tuesday reaffirmed the United States' support for Japan's efforts to address the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago, a State Department spokesperson said.
The reaffirmation came as Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau met a visiting Japanese delegation, including Rep. Furuya Keiji, the head of Japan's Parliamentary Association on Abduction Issues, and family members of the abductees.
"He reaffirmed US support for Japan in achieving an immediate resolution of the abductions issue," Tammy Bruce, the spokesperson, said in a statement.
Landau also expressed his condolences for Arimoto Akihiro, who was unable to reunite with his daughter Keiko before he passed away in February.
Tokyo has officially recognized 17 citizens as victims abducted by the North in the 1970s and 1980s. Five of them returned to Japan following then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's trip to Pyongyang in 2002, while the other 12 abductees remain unaccounted for.
Pyongyang argues that of the 12 Japanese nationals in question, eight passed away while the other four did not even come to the North. The regime is known to have kidnapped Japanese nationals to train its spies in Japanese language and culture. (Yonhap)
