Mother wants to see abductee Megumi Yokota ‘just once’ before time runs out

Kawasaki, Kanagawa Pref. – Sakie Yokota, the 90-year-old mother of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korea 49 years ago, said she wants to see her daughter even just once before she dies.

“My child, who was 13 years old, is now 62. It’s been a long time,” Sakie said at a news conference Thursday in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, referring to her daughter, who was taken on her way back from junior high school in the city of Niigata on Nov. 15, 1977.

“It feels like the flame had gone out. It’s hopeless,” Sakie said. “I want to see her even just once before I die.”

Sakie brought a comb she said Megumi gave her father, Shigeru, as a birthday present on the day before she was abducted.

“She said, ’Father, look nice,’” the mother recalled. “My husband carried it with him all the time.” Shigeru died at the age of 87 in 2020.

On the government’s response to North Korea’s abductions of Japanese citizens, Sakie said nothing has changed even though the families of abduction victims called on the government to solve the issue every time a new prime minister took office.

She urged Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to think seriously and work hard to organize a summit between Japanese and North Korean leaders.

Sakie said it has become difficult for her to make long lectures.

“I have been working hard believing I might be able to see (Megumi) again if I stay fine. I have wanted to rescue her quickly and worked very hard,” Sakie said.

“We can only join forces and strongly call for the rescue of abduction victims,” she said.