Calls to impose economic sanctions on North Korea grew louder Tuesday among the Liberal Democratic Party and relatives of abductees to the reclusive state, who charged that the latest talks in Pyongyang were effectively fruitless.
"I think essential conditions have been met to impose sanctions at this stage," LDP Deputy Secretary General Shinzo Abe said after a meeting of the party's panel on the abduction issue.
A delegation looking into the fates of 10 missing Japanese returned Monday from a weeklong visit to Pyongyang, during which North Korea reiterated that eight of the 10 had died and the other two had never entered the country.
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