U.S. Lawmakers Introduce Measure Urging Japanese Nationals Abducted by North Korea to Be Returned

By Keiichi Nakane / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

16:44 JST, May 1, 2025

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan resolution was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday requesting the government take measures to realize the return of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea.

The resolution, announced at a press conference Wednesday by members of the Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea and others visiting Washington, strictly criticizes North Korea by saying that the abduction of Japanese is directly against the basic rules of freedom and liberation. It also requests that the U.S. government pushes North Korea to return bones of the abductees who have died.

On Wednesday, Takuya Yokota, 56, Koichiro Iizuka, 48, and others met with U.S. Reps. Jen Kiggans, a Republican, and Jill Tokuda, a Democrat.

Iizuka, who was only a year old when his mother Yaeko Taguchi was kidnapped at the age of 22, asked the lawmakers to give him a chance to see his mother again.