Trump meets with families of Japanese abducted by N. Korea

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, listens to Sakie Yokota, second from left, mother of Megumi Yokota who was kidnapped by North Korean agents at the age of 13-year-old in 1977, as Trump meets families of Japanese abductees by North Korea with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second from right, at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, May 27, 2019. Megumi's brother Takuya Yokota, left, holds a picture of his sister Megumi Yokota.(Kimimasa Mayama/Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe meet with Japanese families of those abducted by North Korea, at Akasaka Palace, Monday, May 27, 2019, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

TOKYO – Families of Japanese who were abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s have thanked President Donald Trump for his sympathy and for meeting with them while visiting Japan.

Trump, on a four-day state visit, met the relatives on Monday. He appeared to listen intently to their accounts of their ordeals.

Shigeo Iizuka, whose sister was abducted in the 1970s, asked Trump for his cooperation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to get North Korea to return the victims.

Sakie Yokota, whose daughter was abducted in 1977, said Trump gave the families hope for a breakthrough.

Many elderly relatives say they're running out of time to see their loved ones.

Trump said he supports Abe's intent to meet with North Korea's leader to resolve the issue.