TOKYO, May 9 (UPI) -- Japan plans to raise the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals at July's Group of Eight summit in Russia, an official said.
"The government will make diplomatic efforts so that the issue is taken up at the summit," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told a meeting of the ruling coalition parties in Tokyo, the Asahi Shimbun reported Tuesday.
Japan is encouraged by the meeting between abductee Megumi Yokota's mother, Sakie, and U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington in late April. Abe said that the meeting was a strong message to the world about how serious the abduction issue really is.
Abe is known for taking hawkish line against North Korea on the issue.
Tokyo also raised it at the 2003 G-8 summit in France after Pyongyang admitted in 2002 to abducting Japanese.
