. >>> in other stories we are following, chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga says japan will continue to press north korea for results of its probe into the fate of missing japanese. >> translator: we will keep urging north korea to finish the investigation as soon as possible and give an immediate and accurate report of the results. >> officials in pyongyang promised a year ago to investigate the whereabouts of all missing japs. they set up a special investigative committee last july but no results have been released. some were abducted by north korea in the 1970s and '80s. 12 of them are still unaccounted for. suga noted that north korean officials said the investigation would take about a year but did not give a specific deadline for reporting results. he says the government is always weighing the most effective ways to encourage the north to take concrete steps. >>> other japanese government officials have just released a handful of economic data. ai uchida joins us from the business desk now. what are you seeing? >> at the end of the month we look at consumer price index, househo

. >> reporter: chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga defended abe's speech. >> translator: the prime minister was talking about the resolve. >> reporter: the leader of the opposition party was supportive. >> translator: the government and governing parties will have such endiscussions on enacting the bills. >> reporter: representatives of opposition parties are angry that abe delivered the speech outside of the diet. >> translator: japan's diet is not a subcontractor of the u.s. congress. his remark was totally inappropriate for a government representative. >> translator: we don't even know what the legislation is going to look like. abe is mentioning a deadline is insulting to the diet. he's determined to pass the bills no matter what. >> reporter: the head of the japanese communist party also protested against abe's comments. >> translator: prime minister abe disregarded japan's independence and sovereignty. his stance is nothing but an ultimate subordination to the u.s. we're strongly against it. >> translator: it's ignoring the diet and the public. it's unforgivable. >> reporter: