Stepped-Up Efforts Sought for Return of Japanese Abductees

September 24, 2018

Tokyo- Relatives of Japanese victims of North Korea's abductions, at a meeting in Tokyo on Sunday, reiterated their calls for the government's stepped-up efforts to realize the early homecoming of their loved ones taken to the reclusive country decades ago.

The meeting, attended by about 1,000 people, took place at a time when there have been no visible moves over the issue since it was taken up at a historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June.

"My mission will not end until the day comes when the abduction victims and their relatives hug each other," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the Tokyo meeting, reiterating his hope to hold a meeting with Kim to resolve the longstanding problem. He participated in the gathering ahead of his departure to New York later in the day.

Sakie Yokota, 82, whose daughter, Megumi, was kidnapped to North Korea in 1977 at the age of 13, said, "North Korea stole her life." She added: "We are really at a critical stage now. The abduction issue must be resolved at any cost."

"It seems that the abduction issue has been put on hold since the U.S.-North Korea summit, but we can't turn back as we try to resolve the matter," said Shigeo Iizuka, 80, head of a group of families of abductees.

"I hope to see steady progress for the victims' return home," Iizuka said. His younger sister, Yaeko Taguchi, was abducted in 1978 when she was 22.

Hitomi Soga, 59, a former abductee, said: "I had never thought that I would be unable to see my mother for as much as 40 years. I miss her very much." Soga was abducted in 1978, together with her mother, Miyoshi, then 46.

Soga returned to Japan with four other abduction victims in October 2002, following a landmark meeting in the preceding month between then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. But the whereabouts of the mother are unknown. Jiji Press