A man who returned to Japan after being abducted by North Korean agents, and the son of another abductee have called on the Japanese government to take concrete steps to bring all the abductees home soon.

The two spoke at an event in Kawaguchi City, north of Tokyo. Hasuike Kaoru was abducted in 1978 and returned to Japan in 2002 after a Japan-North Korea summit. Iizuka Koichiro is a son of Taguchi Yaeko, who was abducted in 1978 and was forced to serve as a Japanese language teacher for former North Korean spy Kim Hyun Hee. Kim was involved in the 1987 bombing of a South Korean passenger jet.

Hasuike said 20 years have passed without any progress since he and four other abductees returned to Japan.

He said it is important to create an environment in which North Korea cannot make any excuses, and compel it to decide to resolve the issue.

Hasuike then talked about fellow abductee Taguchi and said the North selfishly drew a line between those it said were alive and those it said were dead in order to hide the abductees who had been involved in major incidents. He added that he thinks all the abductees were alive at the time, and are still likely to be alive.

Iizuka spoke about his mother Taguchi Yaeko's brother Iizuka Shigeo who adopted him but died in 2021, saying he wants to clear up his regrets for not having been able to reunite them.

Referring to US President Donald Trump taking office, he said the Japanese government needs to put pressure on the North with the United States' understanding and backing, and continue to demand the return of the abductees.