Mother of North Korean Abductee Megumi Yokota Calls For Daughter’s Return to Japan 47 Years After Abduction

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:11 JST, November 13, 2024

KAWASAKI — The mother of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977, expressed her anguish as the 47th anniversary of her daughter’s abduction approached.

Megumi was abducted on Nov. 15, 1977, on her way home from junior high school in Niigata. She was 13 years old.

“It’s been such a long time in the dark. Even the act of saying out loud that it’s been 47 years is hard,” Sakie Yokota said at a press conference in Kawasaki.

Megumi’s 60th birthday was on Oct. 5. She has never returned to Japan.

“I have asked as many as 14 prime ministers to rescue her,” Yokota said. “The matter has never been solved, making me wonder what politics is.”

Yokota said she takes care not to fall recently, as just doing housework makes her tired now. “I will just have to keep working, believing she is still alive,” Yokota said with determination.

Yokota expressed her hope that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whom she met in 2017 and 2019, would seriously work on the issue.

“I don’t have much time left,” Yokota said, forcing the words out. She called for the return of her daughter as soon as possible.

“I want [Prime Minister Shigeru] Ishiba to work on this issue, to give top priority to saving lives while he’s in office,” she said.