Former abductees who returned to Japan from North Korea 22 years ago have called for the quick return of those still held there.

The Japanese government says at least 17 of its citizens were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. Five were repatriated in 2002, but the other 12 remain unaccounted for.

About 450 people took part in Sunday's rally to call for the early resolution of the abduction issue. The annual event, held in the city of Echizen in central Japan's Fukui Prefecture, was organized by a support group in the prefecture.

Returnees Chimura Yasushi and Hasuike Kaoru were among those who attended, as well as relatives of missing Japanese people who may have been abducted by North Korea.

Hasuike said it is important to put pressure on North Korea with a stance that the abduction issue must be resolved while victims' parents are alive.

Chimura said there is no time to lose as the victims are aging. He expressed hope that the issue will be resolved soon, and urged people to maintain their attention.

The head of the organizing group, Morimoto Shinji, said after the rally that he wants people to think of the abduction issue not as other people's concern. He urged people to think about it as if their own family members had been abducted.