Foreign Ministry officials secretly traveled to North Korea on Tuesday on a mission to take custody of a Japanese man held by Pyongyang on drug-smuggling charges, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
The officials -- three from the Japanese Embassy in Beijing and another from Tokyo -- may also discuss the abductions issue with North Korea, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said later in the day.
"There is a possibility that the issue will be taken up if there is an opportunity," Takashima said, referring to Tokyo's demand that family members of five former Japanese abductees be allowed to come to Japan.