WASHINGTON, April 30 (Yonhap) -- A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department has called on North Korea to provide a "full" account of Japanese citizens abducted by the regime decades ago. This request comes amidst reports that a group of these families will visit the United States to seek support in securing the repatriation of their loved ones. Vedant Patel, the department's deputy spokesperson, reiterated America's support for the families during a press briefing, stating, "The U.S. stands with the long-suffering relatives of Japanese abductees, and we continue to urge the DPRK to right this historic wrong and provide a full accounting of those that remain missing."
Reports suggest that the families of Japanese abductees departed for Washington on Monday. Japan's Kyodo News and other media outlets reported this development.
Tokyo has officially recognized 17 citizens as victims abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. Five of them returned to Japan following Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's trip to Pyongyang in 2002. However, the other 12 abductees remain unaccounted for.
Pyongyang claims that eight of the 12 Japanese nationals have passed away, while the other four never entered North Korea. The regime is known to have kidnapped Japanese nationals to train its spies in Japanese language and culture.