Kaoru Hasuike, who was abducted by North Korea before returning to Japan, on Wednesday called for Japan to work with the United States to press North Korea to help reunite Japanese abductees and their families.
Speaking at an event held by the Research Institute of Japan, a Jiji Press affiliate, in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture, Hasuike said that the abduction issue "has not been resolved."
Referring to the eight Japanese abductees who have not yet returned home, Hasuike said, "They can come back tomorrow or the day after if North Korea makes a decision."
Japan should strongly demand a deadline be set for resolving the issue so that Sakie Yokota, 89, can be reunited with her daughter Megumi, who was abducted to North Korea at the age of 13, Hasuike said.
"I want the (Japanese) government to tell North Korea that it is prepared (to act) if North Korea fails to meet" the deadline, he said.
Meanwhile, Hasuike expressed a sense of alarm about U.S. President Donald Trump, saying that his administration "may take matters into its own hands if Japan doesn't closely follow what the United States is doing and ingrain the abduction issue deep into there."
As for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's proposal to establish a Japan-North Korea liaison office, Hasuike voiced a willingness to consider it.
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