Families of Japanese Abducted by N. Korea Appeal for LDP, CDPJ Leadership Candidates to Resolve Abduction Issue; Abductee Megumi Yokota to Turn 60 Next Month

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:06 JST, September 12, 2024

The Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea have called for ruling and opposition party leadership candidates to quickly resolve the abduction issue.

The families appealed to candidates running in the presidential races of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at a press conference held in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Takuya Yokota, representative of the association, said his older sister Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korea when she was 13, will turn 60 on Oct. 5. Takuya, 56, said, “I urge the ruling and opposition parties to seriously consider the painful time we’ve been forced to spend in despair and make our reunions come true.”

Their mother Sakie Yokota, 88, said: “[The abductees] lives are at stake each day. I hope each one of you will seriously discuss solutions.”