It has been 19 years since the Japan-North Korea summit meeting, when North Korea first approved the abduction, on the 17th.



Sakie Yokota (85), the mother of Megumi Yokota, who has not yet returned to Japan, said in an interview with NHK, "I feel a sense of despair because it has taken so long." I talked about.

At the Japan-North Korea summit meeting held 19 years ago on September 17, 2002, North Korea admitted the abduction for the first time, and five victims returned home.



However, the number of abductees who have not been able to return to their home countries without knowing their safety has risen to 12 even if the government has certified them.



One of them, Megumi Yokota's mother, Sakie Yokota, told NHK on the 16th, "The more years I get, the harder my body gets. It takes so long, and it's almost hopeless. I feel. "



After that, he said, "I want the Japanese government to work on North Korea with the feeling that'I can't forgive such a terrible thing', hold a Japan-North Korea summit meeting again, and be sure to recover the victims." I asked again for efforts to realize the return to Japan as soon as possible.



In the 19 years since the Japan-North Korea summit, eight of the 12 victims' parents have died, and the only healthy parents are Sakie Yokota and Keiko Arimoto's father, Akihiro (93).



There is an ever-increasing desire among victims' families to reunite while their parents are still alive.