Iconic N. Korea abductee’s mother laments passage of 48 years without reunion

TOKYO - November 15 marked 48 years since the disappearance of Megumi Yokota, a symbolic victim of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese nationals decades ago, and her mother Sakie continues to lament the lengthy period without progress on the issue.

Ms Yokota, 89, told reporters ahead of the anniversary that the prolonged separation leaves her “in shock”, but she still clings to hope of a reunion after she and other family members of the abductees called on Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and US President Donald Trump to bring back their loved ones.

Megumi went missing at age 13 while on her way home from badminton practice at her junior high school in Niigata on the Sea of Japan coast on Nov 15, 1977.

“It was as if I was thrown into complete darkness,” Ms Yokota said, recalling her desperate search for her daughter. “I was crying and screaming every day.”

It was 20 years later, in 1997, that Japanese police said Megumi was abducted by North Korea, and in the same year, Ms Yokota and her husband, Shigeru, founded the group for families of the abductees.

The couple had since spearheaded the campaign to bring back the victims. But Shigeru died in 2020.

Over the years, Ms Yokota has repeatedly expressed anger over the lack of progress over the abductions, describing them as “such a terrible thing”.

Ms Yokota, who turns 90 in February, acknowledged that she feels exhausted, saying: “I have used up my energy and willpower. Sometimes I think I may never see her again.”

Yet, she said she has “very high expectations” that Ms Takaichi may move things forward. Ms Takaichi met the families of the abduction victims just two days after taking office on Oct 21. She has also said she has proposed a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“There is no time to lose when it comes to solving this problem. I would like to yield a tangible outcome” through a meeting with Mr Kim, Ms Takaichi told reporters on Nov 14.

Mr Trump, during his visit to Japan for talks with Ms Takaichi, also met the families, including Ms Yokota, and reiterated his commitment to the issue, saying: “We always have this in mind.”

Mr Trump met Mr Kim three times between 2018 and 2019 during his first term as US president and has shown enthusiasm to meet him again.

Ms Yokota told a recent separate gathering of her supporters: “I have come many, many years with a truly sad feeling. I know she is there (in North Korea), but I cannot see her or hear her voice. But I believe that she is doing well.”

Megumi is among 17 Japanese nationals the Japanese government officially lists as having been

abducted by North Korea throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

The government also alleges Pyongyang’s involvement in many other disappearances.

Five abductees were returned in 2002 after then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met North Korea’s Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang on Sept 17 of that year, the first-ever summit between the two countries that do not maintain diplomatic ties. KYODO NEWS