On 49th Anniversary of Megumi Yokota's Abduction, PM Takaichi Vows to Bring All Abductees Home
November 15 marks 49 years since Japanese schoolgirl Megumi Yokota was abducted by North Korean agents in Niigata. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi posted on X that bringing all abductees home to set foot on Japanese soil as soon as possible is "the mission imposed on me."
Takaichi wrote that she has heard the earnest pleas of the abductees' families, including Yokota's mother, Sakie Yokota, that she feels deep pain that their return has still not been achieved, and that the whole government will work to resolve the issue.
Megumi Yokota disappeared on her way home from school on November 15, 1977, aged just 13. The Japanese government officially recognises 17 citizens as having been abducted by North Korea; five returned home in 2002, while the other 12 remain unaccounted for. On November 8, about 800 people rallied in Tokyo demanding the immediate return of all the abductees.
Related: 800 Rally in Tokyo Demanding North Korea Return Abductees
(Source: Kyodo News)
Source: Kyodo News
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：日本首相高市早苗官方肖像。照片：日本内阁广报室，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Official portrait of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Photo by the Cabinet Public Affairs Office of Japan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
