Relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and their supporters criticized the government July 7 over its plan to lift some sanctions imposed on North Korea in response to Pyongyang's promise to reinvestigate the abduction issue.

In an emergency gathering in Tokyo, the relatives and their supporters — including ruling and opposition members of the Diet — adopted a resolution urging the government not to lift any sanctions until North Korea returns "all victims" of abduction by its agents.

"The sanctions, which are diplomatic cards, are about to be used wastefully," said Shigeo Iizuka, brother of abductee Yaeko Taguchi and head of a group of relatives of people abducted by North Korean agents.

"North Korea is saying it will reinvestigate, but we know that they have all of the abduction victims under their control," Iizuka said.

Kyoko Nakayama, special adviser to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, assured participants at the event that the current phase is a "word for word" process — North Korea's promise to reinvestigate matched by Japan's intention to partially lift sanctions — and that action will depend on progress in negotiations.

Nakayama promised to do her best so that the government will choose policies "that are not wrong" and emphasized that Tokyo should not make "halfway compromises" when negotiating with Pyongyang.

In talks in Beijing in June, North Korea promised to reinvestigate the abduction issue after having said that the matter had been settled. Japan responded by saying it will partially lift the sanctions it has imposed on Pyongyang.