Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A Japanese man previously suspected to have been abducted to North Korea was found in Japan, according to police.
Yuzo Kawai, a Japanese man who went missing in 1986 when he was 32 years old, was found to be alive in the country, Kyodo News reported Friday.
Kawai was last seen in the city of Nagoya in August 1986, when he was meeting with a relative at an apartment complex.
The police had not ruled out his abduction to North Korea until he was discovered this year, according to the report.
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A total of 878 "specially designated" missing persons are officially recognized in Japan, but every year nearly 100,000 Japanese disappear, often for unknown reasons.
The missing people are known as johatsu or "evaporated people," who "engineer" their own disappearances, according to Singapore's Channel News Asia.
The discovery of Kawai comes a few months after police in Yamagata prefecture found the body of a Japanese man, Takeshi Saito, classified as missing since his disappearance in 1983.
The news in September came after Japanese police said they found the bodies of other missing Japanese nationals suspected of being abducted to North Korea. They were found in Chiba and Miyazaki prefectures, in May and August, respectively.
North Korea has previously accused Japan of making "fabricated" abduction claims following the discoveries.
At least a dozen abductees are still officially recognized by Tokyo, but Pyongyang has said none are alive -- eight have died and four never entered the country.
Japan continues to raise awareness of the abduction issue at the United Nations.
NHK reported Wednesday Japan submitted a resolution urging Pyongyang to return abducted individuals for the 15th year.
The resolution asks North Korea to end human rights violations and "immediately return" abductees, according to the report.
