TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The younger brother of Megumi Yokota, an iconic victim among Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s, urged his country's politicians to take a stand on the issue "with determination and anger."

Takuya Yokota's remarks came after the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party lost its majority in last week's general election, fanning fears it cannot provide strong leadership to settle the issue.

Japan's long-standing abduction issue with North Korea is a "matter of human life," Takuya, 56, said in a speech on Saturday in Tokyo, adding the resolution "should not be delayed due to political turmoil and stagnation."

Megumi was abducted at age 13 by North Korean agents in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast in 1977 while returning home from badminton practice at her junior high school. Her father Shigeru died in 2020 and her mother Sakie is 88.

Five abductees were returned to Japan after then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a historic visit to Pyongyang in 2002. But Tokyo has continued to seek the return of 12 others it has officially recognized as having been abducted by North Korea.

Bilateral negotiations on the abduction issue have long stalled as Tokyo has no diplomatic relations with Pyongyang. North Korea, whose nuclear and missile developments threaten Japan's security, claims that the issue has already been resolved.

Although Ishiba, as his immediate predecessor Fumio Kishida did, has pledged to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to solve the issue, many analysts doubt that Japan has the communication channels necessary to pave the way for such a meeting.