Tuesday Marks 45 Years Since Yokota Megumi Was Abducted By N.korea
The mother of Yokota Megumi, who was abducted by North Korea more than four decades ago, has long been calling for the immediate return of her daughter.
Tuesday marks 45 years since the abduction. Megumi was taken on November 15, 1977, while on her way home from junior high school in the city of Niigata.
This year also marks 20 years since the first Japan-North Korea summit, where Pyongyang admitted to the kidnapping of Japanese nationals.
Megumi's parents travelled across Japan and spoke at more than 1,400 meetings calling for her return. Each time a new prime minister took office, they would meet him face-to-face and ask the government to take action.
Megumi's father Shigeru passed away in 2020 at the age 87, without seeing any signs of progress, despite their efforts. He was 45 when his daughter was kidnapped.
The 86-year-old mother, Sakie, is getting less confident about her health. She feels that her days of waiting for Megumi's return are numbered.
In an NHK interview, Sakie lamented over the "awful" amount of time she had spent without her daughter.
Sakie said she asked every prime minister she met to hold summit talks with the leader of North Korea, but to no avail.
Sakie said she made the same request to the current prime minister, Kishida Fumio, and that she wants the government to ramp up its efforts.
Sakie said that if Pyongyang agrees to return abductees, happy times await both countries. She said her only hope now is for all abductees still stuck in North Korea to be brought back to Japan.