Shigeru and Sakie Yokota may have their best chance yet of being reunited with their daughter, Megumi, 37 years after she was abducted by North Korean agents at age 13.
Their optimism stems from North Korea agreeing earlier this month to break a decade's hiatus and start a probe into the fate of abductees and other Japanese in the isolated country. The appointment of military officials to the investigation and a more active stance by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government are grounds for hope, Sakie, 78, said in an interview last week.
"For the first time, they are approaching the negotiations in a completely different way," she said in the lobby of the apartment building where the couple live in Kawasaki. "We are all looking at this and beginning to think it may lead to some progress."