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U.S. supports Japan's N. Korean efforts

WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- The United States says it's supporting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi decision to visit North Korea later this month.

Koizumi will visit North Korea May 22 in an effort to secure the release of abducted Japanese citizens.

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Japan believes scores of its civilians may have been kidnapped during the Cold War and wants a proper investigation.

Koizumi;s trip marks his second to Pyongyang since a landmark summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. in September 2002. It was during that meeting that North Korea admitted its agents had abducted at least 13 Japanese citizens during the 1970s and 1980s.

The Japanese government faces tremendous pressure from the families, friends and sympathizers of those abducted to bring them back.

"The U.S. government has consistently supported the efforts by the Japanese government to gain the release of its citizens abducted by North Korea, and of their family members," the U.S. State Department said. "The United States and ... Japan coordinate and cooperate closely on our respective approaches to North Korea, including on the abductions issue."

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