A large-scale rally was held in Tokyo on Saturday to seek the immediate return home of all Japanese abductees in North Korea.
Relatives of those abducted to North Korea decades ago expressed hopes for the return of abductees immediately and while their parents are still alive.
The event, organized by the association of families of abduction victims and other entities, was attended by about 800 people, including Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
¡°We will never give up,¡± said Takuya Yokota, 57, head of the association and the younger brother of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted in 1977 at the age of 13. He called on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to release all abductees to ¡°chart a bright future for both countries.¡±
¡°My cheerful and kind daughter disappeared like smoke at the usual corner (of the street),¡± Megumi¡¯s 90-year-old mother, Sakie, said. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about her now. Please help me.¡±
Former abductee Hitomi Soga, 67, said, ¡°I cried and cried as I looked up at the sky and the moon (in North Korea).¡±
Soga, a resident of the island city of Sado in Niigata Prefecture, returned to Japan in October 2002 along with four other abductees, following a historic summit between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang in the preceding month.
She and her mother, Miyoshi, were abducted to North Korea in 1978. Miyoshi, who was 46 years old at the time of the abduction, has yet to return to Japan.
¡°I want my mother never to give up on returning to Sado,¡± Hitomi said.
Takaichi said, ¡°It is my duty to have all abduction victims return home as soon as possible.¡±
¡°I am working hard every day with the determination that the Takaichi administration will resolve the abduction issue,¡± the prime minister added.
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