TOKYO (Agencies): Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Saturday expressed her determination to achieve a “breakthrough” in resolving the longstanding issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, vowing to weigh all options, including summit talks, according to media reports in Japan.
At a rally in Tokyo calling for the return of Japanese abductees, Takaichi urged North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to take a “courageous step” together for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries, reported Kyodo.
“Whatever it takes, I will resolve the abduction issue by making a breakthrough during my time (in office),” Takaichi, who became prime minister in October 2025, told the gathering organised by family members of those abducted by North Korea and their supporters.
“We are tackling this issue seriously with a determination not to miss the slightest chance of making concrete progress as soon as possible, even by a day or an hour,” she said.
The Japanese government officially lists 17 Japanese nationals as having been abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.
Five abductees were returned in 2002 after then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang on Sept 17 that year in the first-ever summit between the two countries, which do not maintain diplomatic ties. No summit has been held since 2004, when Koizumi and Kim met again in Pyongyang.
For its part, North Korea maintains that the abduction issue has been resolved.
Sakie Yokota, the 90-year-old mother of Megumi Yokota, a symbol of the abduction issue who disappeared at age 13 while on her way home from school in 1977, pleaded for help.
“We have no information about the situation (surrounding the abductees), and we can only pray that they are alive,” Ms Yokota said. “Had the Japanese government acted sooner, all of them could have returned. I ask the government to secure their return as soon as possible.”
Megumi’s younger brother, Takuya, 57, underlined the need to “keep on confronting North Korea without letting go of anger”, as he leads a group of abductees’ family members.
One of the five who returned to Japan, Hitomi Soga, 67, called for her mother, Miyoshi, who was also abducted with her in 1978, to “hold out hope of returning” to Japan.
