Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met for the first time since taking office with families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea.
Ishiba recalled the historic September 2002 meeting in Pyongyang between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at which North Korea admitted to abducting Japanese nationals.
At that time, Ishiba headed a group of Diet members dealing with the abduction issue.
“I still vividly remember Sachie Yokota screaming ‘Megumi is alive.’” Ishiba said. “That was the starting point for my involvement in this issue.”
Megumi Yokota, who all these years later is the face of the abduction issue, was a 13-year-old junior high school student when she was seized in 1977 from a beach in Niigata and forcibly taken to North Korea.
Her mother has been leading the call ever since to bring back all abductees. Her husband, Shigeru, died at age 87 in 2020.
Ishiba also said direct talks were necessary rather than simply criticizing the other side. He added that “strategic decisions” by leaders would lead to resolution of the issue and expressed his desire to hold direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Yokota, 88, also spoke at the gathering and said, “Youngsters were suddenly snatched from us and many years have passed without hearing what they have to say about their lives. Should Japan be satisfied with this situation?”
Hitomi Soga, 65, who was one of five Japanese nationals who returned to Japan from North Korea in 2002, recalled never again seeing her mother, Miyoshi, after both were abducted in 1978.
“I am chagrined at not being able to meet my kind and warm mother for close to half a century,” Soga said. “I want time to demonstrate my filial piety.”
Event organizers said about 800 people attended.