A group supporting relatives of Japanese abducted to North Korea has demanded that authorities probe whether Pyongyang's agents spirited away some 60 others besides the 14 whose fates the Stalinist state have already disclosed.
The Tokyo-based National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea says it has a list of suspected abductees based on its own probes.
"There are lots of leads on abductees other than those already reported," Kazuhiro Araki, the group's secretary general, said. "The government should actively collect information and investigate the matter now that North Korea has finally, after years of denial, admitted its agents had abducted Japanese."