The mother of Megumi Yokota, a Japanese national abducted by North Korea decades ago, is afraid she may never see her daughter again.
"Sometimes I wonder if I will ever see her again," Sakie Yokota, 89, said at a news conference in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
She urged the Japanese government to quickly work toward a Japan-North Korea summit, saying, "Without talks, there will be no progress."
Megumi was abducted on Nov. 15, 1977, while on her way home from junior high school in the city of Niigata. Saturday marks 48 years since her abduction.
"Why can't such an important matter be resolved? I'm stunned," Sakie said.
"Every year for decades, I have been asked, 'How do you feel?' but I feel completely exhausted now," she said when asked about delivering a message to Megumi.
"We have asked every prime minister to hold a Japan-North Korea summit as soon as possible, but it has never happened. It's a sickening feeling," she said regarding the government's handling of the issue.
However, she said that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's eagerness to address the issue has given her some hope. "This is the first time I have felt a prime minister's enthusiasm," she said.
Shigeru, Sakie's husband who died in 2020 at the age of 87, would have turned 88 on Friday.
Sakie said she talks to his photo in the living room, asking what she should do and whether he can see her from above.
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