Families of Japanese Abducted by North Korea Ask New U.S. Ambassador for Cooperation; Families Urge for Quick Return of Abductees

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:41 JST, May 16, 2025

Family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea met the new U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass at his official residence in Tokyo on Thursday.

They asked the ambassador for his cooperation in materializing the prompt and joint return of all the abductees.

The meeting behind closed doors was held at the suggestion of the U.S. Embassy with 11 members participating from eight of the abductees’ families.

Glass remarked that it would be unbearable for him if he were the parent of an abductee and that his heart truly ached, according to Takuya Yokota, 56, a younger brother of abductee Megumi Yokota and the head of the group.

“He’s a very warm-hearted person,” said Sakie Yokota, 89, the mother of Megumi who was abducted when she was 13. “I told him that I hoped he would solve the problem together with Japan.”

Akihiro Arimoto, the father of Keiko Arimoto who was 23 when abducted, died in February at the age of 96. Ikuko Arimoto, 64, a younger sister of Keiko, came in his place for the first time.