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Sakie Yokota, mother of Megumi Yokota, a symbolic figure among Japanese victims abducted by North Korea, speaks with Asia Today at the Bunkyo Civic Center in Tokyo on October 7. / Tokyo Correspondent Choi Young-jae

"Both Japan and South Korea must act together; both governments must step up, and the people must stand together as well. I hope everyone across the world speaks with one voice." Sakie Yokota (90), mother of Megumi Yokota—the symbolic figure among Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea—appealed to the South Korean government and its people on the 7th to take action alongside Japan to resolve the North Korean abduction issue.

Yokota made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Asia Today following the event "Immediate and Complete Return of All Abductees! Tokyo Continuous Rally 140: Report on the Visit to the U.S. by the Families Association, Rescue Association, and Parliamentary League on Abductions," held at 6:30 p.m. at the Bunkyo Civic Center in Tokyo.

Yokota noted that far more South Koreans than Japanese were abducted to North Korea. When the reporter asked, "Megumi Yokota is known to have married Kim Young-nam, who was abducted from South Korea in 1977, while in North Korea. There are numerous South Korean abduction victims. Is there a message you would like to share with the families of South Korean abductees right now?", she replied, "From the very beginning, far more people were taken from South Korea than from Japan," adding, "I have often said that I want us to stay strong and persevere together."

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Photograph of Megumi Yokota, a symbolic figure among Japanese abduction victims. / Yonhap News

She expressed deep sorrow over the reality that the issue remains unresolved despite the passage of so many years. "Things just haven't turned out that way," Yokota said. "Such cruelty is truly unforgivable." She added that so many people have suffered for so long under the North Korean regime, and that watching this unfold has broken her heart every time she thinks about it.

She also voiced frustration over the lack of any breakthrough in resolving the abduction issue. "It is truly agonizing that this has remained unresolved for so long," Yokota said. "I often find myself wondering what ought to be done, wishing someone could tell me how this can be solved." She added, "The ideal outcome would be for bad actors to disappear entirely, but that, of course, is difficult," indicating that the situation must not escalate into armed conflict. She then emphasized her heartfelt message to the families of South Korean abduction victims: "For now, I want to ask you to hold on to hope."

Yokota's tone grew even firmer when asked about the South Korean government. When asked what she hopes for from the South Korean government, she prefaced her remarks by saying, "We have been striving relentlessly while watching the situation in Japan, but I do not know every specific circumstance in South Korea." She continued, "It is truly time to join hands. Both Japan and South Korea must act together; both governments must step up, and the people must stand together as well."

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Takuya Yokota, head of the Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, holds up gym clothes worn by his older sister Megumi in the sixth grade of elementary school during a reporting session on the U.S. visit held at the Bunkyo Civic Center in Tokyo on the 7th. Yokota stated that during his visit to the U.S. from September 21 to 25, he displayed these gym clothes with her name embroidered on them to convey the gravity of an abduction inflicted upon a young child. / Tokyo Correspondent Choi Young-jae

She then appealed to the entire international community to step forward and resolve the abduction issue. "I want everyone across the world—truly everyone—to speak out," Yokota said. "I hope they unite and say things like, 'This is simply not something human beings should do.'" She repeatedly emphasized, "That is truly what I think about at all times."

Yokota's remarks came just two days after her daughter Megumi marked her 62nd birthday on October 5. On November 15, 1977, Megumi, then a 13-year-old first-year junior high school student, went missing in Niigata after parting ways with a friend on her walk home from badminton club practice. Following investigations and interrogations of former North Korean operatives who defected, Japanese police concluded that she had been abducted by North Korea. The Japanese government also officially recognizes Megumi as an abduction victim of North Korea.

This coming November marks 49 years since Megumi disappeared. Megumi, once a 13-year-old girl, has now turned 62, and her mother Sakie, who has traveled tirelessly across Japan and the international community searching for her daughter, reached the age of 90 this year. In a press conference held in Kawasaki on the 1st—four days before Megumi's birthday—Yokota had similarly expressed her anguish, saying, "What breaks my heart most is that despite doing everything within our power, we have not been able to rescue her." She lamented that after all these years, she still cannot see her daughter's face nor hear her voice.

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Childhood belongings of Megumi Yokota displayed at a reporting session on a visit to the U.S. concerning Japanese abduction victims, held at the Bunkyo Civic Center in Tokyo on the 7th. From left: a hand-knitted scarf, elementary school gym clothes embroidered with her name, a comb given to her father as a birthday present the day before her abduction, and a music box toy. Takuya Yokota, her younger brother and head of the Families Association, explained that he brought these items to the U.S. to illustrate the devastation of an abduction that stripped a young girl of her daily life. / Tokyo Correspondent Choi Young-jae

In the past, she used to prepare a cake on every one of Megumi's birthdays, but now she has stopped doing even that. Holding a perfunctory celebration without her daughter present is simply too agonizing and empty. Instead, Sakie wishes to prepare a lavish birthday feast only when Megumi returns.

Recently, Sakie sent a message to her daughter, saying, "Believe that you will definitely come home, do not collapse, and stay strong." She also spends her days speaking to the photograph of her husband, Shigeru Yokota, who passed away in 2020, asking him to watch over Megumi until she returns safely.

Time has now become the most desperate issue for the families of abduction victims. Sakie is the last surviving parent among the parental generation of abduction victims officially recognized by the Japanese government. Having turned 90 in February this year, she pleaded with the Japanese government, saying, "Please, truly stake your lives on making this effort."

The Japanese government has also shown renewed movement recently. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met at the Prime Minister's Official Residence on the previous day, October 6, with officials from the Families Association, Rescue Association, and Parliamentary League on Abductions—including Sakie's son, Takuya Yokota, head of the Families Association—to receive a briefing on the outcomes of their visit to the U.S. last month.

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Sakie Yokota (left), mother of Megumi Yokota, and her younger brother Takuya Yokota (right) attend an event together at the Bunkyo Civic Center in Tokyo on the evening of October 7. / Tokyo Correspondent Choi Young-jae

Prime Minister Takaichi stated at the meeting that she had also held a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York and reaffirmed strong support regarding the abduction issue. Noting that Megumi had celebrated her 62nd birthday just a day earlier, she emphasized that the abduction issue is an urgent humanitarian matter with no time to spare, expressing her resolve to achieve a breakthrough during her tenure.

This is not Sakie's first connection with South Korea either. In 2022, Sakie and officials from the Families Association met with Yoon Duk-min, then the nominee for South Korean Ambassador to Japan, to request South Korea's continued support and cooperation for the prompt return of all abductees. In the same year, she also met with Lee Shin-wha, then South Korea's Ambassador for International Cooperation on North Korean Human Rights, to appeal for collaboration.

However, the message Sakie shared with Asia Today on the 7th reaches beyond intergovernmental cooperation. She stressed that not only the South Korean government but also the South Korean people must act alongside Japan's government and citizens, and that the international community must condemn abductions with one voice as an act that cannot be tolerated among human beings. The time spent waiting for her daughter has now neared half a century. On this day, Sakie left a final word for the families of South Korean abduction victims to hold onto until the very end, rather than succumbing to despair:

"I want to tell them to hold on to hope."

                                                                                                           Choi Young-jae