800 Rally in Tokyo to demand North Korea abductees’ immediate return

A national rally calling for the immediate and collective return of all Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago was held in Tokyo on Sunday, attended by about 800 people, including Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

“The parents of abductees are living each day on the edge,” Takuya Yokota, the younger brother of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted to North Korea in 1977 at the age of 13, said at the rally. “I want everyone to continue fighting with us with a strong determination never to give up until all abductees return home.”

Takuya, 58, is head of the Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea and one of the organizers of the rally.

Sakie Yokota, Megumi’s 90-year-old mother, who is the only remaining parent among the families of government-recognized abductees still awaiting the return of their loved ones, said, “I feel indescribable heartache and sorrow because a family member I raised with great care was taken away.”

“For almost 50 years, we have been unable to save her. We must continue to show, with one united heart, that we will never allow the abduction issue to be left unaddressed,” Sakie said.

Koichiro Iizuka, 49, the eldest son of abductee Yaeko Taguchi, who was kidnapped in 1978 at the age of 22, said: “Once the new year begins, it will be 49 years since my mother was abducted. I absolutely cannot accept allowing that to stretch to 50 years.”

Addressing the gathering, Takaichi said: “I feel very sorry that the abductees have not yet been able to return home. I am determined to make a breakthrough during my tenure, and my mission will not end until the day their families can embrace their loved ones again.”

The rally adopted a resolution calling on North Korea to return all abductees while members of the parents’ generation are still alive.