Politics & Government

Ishiba Vows to Resolve Issue of North Korea’s Abductions

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba responding to questions at the House of Representatives Budget Committee on Monday.

Jiji Press

15:35 JST, February 17, 2025

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday that his government will take every possible step to bring Japanese abductees home from North Korea as soon as possible.

The death of Akihiro Arimoto, father of Keiko, a Japanese woman abducted to North Korea in the 1980s, is very regrettable, Ishiba said at a parliamentary committee meeting.

He said that if U.S. President Donald Trump visits Japan, the president will meet with families of abductees to North Korea.

Trump met with abductees’ families and former abductees during his trip to Japan in 2017 and 2019 in his first term.

Ishiba said that it is necessary for the abduction issue to be raised repeatedly by Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. But he added that his government is determined to resolve the issue on its own, not by relying on the United States.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, who doubles as minister in charge of the abduction issue, told a press conference that it is very regrettable that the government failed to bring Keiko Arimoto home while Akihiro was alive.