The families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea have adopted a stronger policy demanding that Tokyo secure the immediate return of all remaining victims, as concerns grow that the abductees’ aging relatives may not live to see their return.

At a joint press conference in Tokyo on Sunday, the Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea (AFVKN) and the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea (NARKN) unveiled their new policy explicitly calling for the government to make humanitarian aid and sanctions relief conditional on Pyongyang returning all abductees.

This marks a shift