U.S. special envoy on North Korea Stephen Bosworth has told a group of families of Japanese abductees that the U.S. has no immediate plans to strengthen its sanctions against Pyongyang.

After a meeting with the envoy at the U.S. State Department on Monday, Shigeo Iizuka, the head of the group, told reporters that there were some differences of opinion.

In the meeting, the Japanese group reportedly asked Washington to beef up sanctions against Pyongyang and put the North back on its list of state terrorism sponsors.

Bosworth, however, said the U.S. has no intention of imposing additional sanctions at the moment, adding that additional sanctions would most likely have no effect on the North in regards to the abductees issue.