The mother of Megumi Yokota, who was kidnapped at age 13 and has come to symbolize the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, has urged Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to take swift action to resolve the long-standing matter, as Monday marked 44 years since her daughter went missing.
Sakie Yokota, the 85-year-old mother of Megumi, called on Kishida to hold dialogue with Pyongyang, as she considers the new Japanese leader to be her last hope of making progress on the issue, which has become more urgent as relatives of those abducted in the 1970s and 1980s are aging.
"I want to work hard by using whatever strength that is left," she said in a video message for a meeting Sunday in the city of Niigata before the anniversary of her daughter's disappearance.