(VOVworld) – Japan will send officials to North Korea for an update on North Korea’s investigation into the fate of Japanese citizens abducted decades ago, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Monday. He added that a date for the visit has not been set.

Family members of the Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago, meet the press at the Cabinet Office in Tokyo on October 20, 2014. (Photo: Kyodo News)

North Korea agreed to form a special commission last May to conduct a detailed investigation into abducted Japanese citizens, some of which are believed to have gone missing. Japan eased some sanctions on North Korea in return but said that it will impose more sanctions if North Korea’s investigation is just to stall for time.  North Korea was planning to issue the first report of the investigation by the beginning of autumn, but in September Pyongyang said it was not able to provide any satisfactory explanations because the investigation was still in its first stage.