Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama held the first meeting of the Headquarters for the Abduction Issue at the Prime Minister's Office. Mr. Hiroshi Nakai, Minister of State for the Abduction Issue, Mr. Hirofumi Hirano, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Koji Matsui, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, also attended the meeting.

It was decided at a Cabinet meeting on October 13 that the Headquarters for the Abduction Issue would be established within the Cabinet with Prime Minister Hatoyama serving as the Chair as a forum to deliberate on responses to the abduction issue and to promote comprehensive measures flexibly, including steps for the immediate return of survivors, efforts to obtain a full account of abductees whose whereabouts are unknown, and strategic efforts to resolve the abduction issue.

During the meeting, members of the Headquarters exchanged views on the structure and budget of the Headquarters' secretariat and ways to proceed. At the beginning, Prime Minister Hatoyama delivered an address. He said, "Meeting and talking individually with family members of abductees on the 29th of last month, I reaffirmed the necessity to take actions promptly. That is why we established the Headquarters for the Abduction Issue and how I became the Chair of the Headquarters. I myself have raised the abduction issue on various occasions including ASEAN-related meetings, but it goes without saying that Japan must take the lead. I will seek to achieve an early resolution of this issue with the cooperation of world leaders."