Abductee families seek support from US

May 3, 2018

Washington- Family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago met with US government officials in Washington on Wednesday to request support in the efforts to realize the return of their loved ones.

They made the request before a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un. The first-ever US-North Korea summit is expected to be held by early June.

"Although North Korea may report (to the United States) that the abduction issue has already been resolved, I believe no easy conclusion will be drawn," Takuya Yokota, a younger brother of Megumi, who was abducted to North Korea in 1977 at the age of 13, told reporters in Washington.

The abductee families, who are members of the Japanese Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, also met with Richard Armitage, who served as deputy secretary of state under the administration of US President George W. Bush.

Armitage assured them of support, saying the families, not North Korea, are the ones who are supposed to judge whether the abduction issue is resolved.

Katsunobu Kato, Japanese minister in charge of the abduction issue, left Tokyo on Thursday for the United States, where he plans to seek cooperation for achieving a settlement of the abduction issue.

"I want to open up ways for moving the abduction issue forward ahead of the US-North Korea summit," Kato told reporters at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda before his departure.

During his stay in the United States through Sunday, Kato will attend a symposium on North Korean human rights issues at the UN headquarters in New York, together with the members of the abductee family association and its support group, the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea.

In Washington, Kato will meet with senior US government officials to request their support for bringing the abductees back home. Jiji Press