The families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago on Tuesday met with senior U.S. government officials, asking them for help getting the victims home as soon as possible.
Takuya Yokota, the 55-year-old head of a group representing the families, said he told the officials in Washington that the aging parents of the abductees "do not have time" to wait.
Speaking at a press conference after the meetings, Yokota said he showed a photograph of his 88-year-old mother while seeking support from the officials as well as U.S. legislators.
The officials included Uzra Zeya, under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Mira Rapp-Hooper, White House senior director for East Asia and Oceania.
The families' visit comes weeks after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with U.S. President Joe Biden in the U.S. capital. According to a joint statement released after the April 10 summit, Biden reaffirmed U.S. commitment to the immediate resolution of the abduction issue.
Yokota's sister Megumi, who has become a symbol of the issue, was abducted on her way home from school in 1977 at age 13.
Yokota also disclosed the group had told the U.S. officials that it would no longer oppose lifting Japan's unilateral sanctions against North Korea if their loved ones are able to all return home soon.
"It was a wrenching decision to shift the focus of our campaign to a policy of dialogue," he also quoted himself as telling the U.S. officials, adding they did not express any objections to the change.
Biden said during a post-summit press conference that "it's a positive thing" that Kishida is seeking to have a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to realize the return of those abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.
Yokota's trip was joined by Japanese lawmakers and a supporters' group. Koichiro Iizuka, secretary general of the group, and Keiji Furuya, a former chief of Japan's National Public Safety Commission, were among other members who met with the U.S. officials.
Iizuka is the eldest son of Yaeko Taguchi who went missing in 1978 at age 22. Neither of the two Japanese women has been returned.
Among 17 nationals Japan officially lists as having been abducted by North Korea, five have been returned. Tokyo also suspects Pyongyang's involvement in many other disappearances.
U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said at a press briefing on Tuesday that the United States "stands with the long-suffering relatives of Japanese abductees."
"We continue to urge (North Korea) to right this historic wrong and provide full accounting of those that remain missing," he said.
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