According to an interview with the people concerned, the person in charge of the North Korean issue at the U.S. Embassy is making adjustments to inspect the site of Niigata Prefecture, where Megumi Yokota and Mr. and Mrs. Hasuike were abducted, next week. I did.
It has been 20 years since the 2002 Japan-North Korea summit meeting when North Korea approved the abduction.
Under these circumstances, the US Embassy's North Korean practitioners and others coordinated to visit the sites of Niigata City and Kashiwazaki City, where Megumi Yokota and Kaoru Hasuike and Yukiko Okudo were abducted next week. I learned from interviews with the people concerned that this is progressing.
It is the first time in 11 years since Ambassador to Japan Ruth that Megumi officially visited the school route of a junior high school where Megumi was abducted by North Korea 45 years ago, and Mr. and Mrs. Hasuike said 44 years ago. It is believed that this is the first time to visit the abducted coast of Kashiwazaki City.
In Niigata Prefecture, Mayor Sakurai of Kashiwazaki City and Mayor Watanabe of Sado City, where Hitomi Soga and her mother Miyoshi were abducted last August, ask President Byden to cooperate in solving the abduction problem through the US Embassy. In addition to sending a message, movements at the municipal level are becoming more active toward solving the problem, such as the establishment of a group that appeals for the solution of the abduction problem created by all the mayors of the prefecture.