Japan wants North Korea to prioritize finding out what happened to the 12 Japanese abductees who may still be alive, it said Tuesday.

A Japanese delegation – led by Junichiro Ihara, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Asian and Oceanic Affairs Bureau – traveled to Pyongyang to meet with North Korean officials to discuss progress on the investigation into what happened to the abductees.

During a meeting Tuesday in the North Korean capital, marking the start of two days of talks, Ihara told the North Korean side that revealing the fate of 12 abductees should be the highest