The government promised to consider a request to impose economic sanctions and other tough measures on North Korea if the reclusive regime fails to properly address the past abductions of Japanese, relatives of abductees said Wednesday.
Akitaka Saiki, deputy director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, told a group of abductees' relatives the ministry will "take it (the request for sanctions) into consideration," group leader Shigeru Yokota said.
The group said it urged the government to prepare economic sanctions and a ban on North Korean port calls if the North fails to address the issue in the next round of six-way talks.
Whether the second round of talks on the North's nuclear ambitions will be held before the end of the year as planned has become unclear, but Saiki said a chance still exists.