Next month will mark three years since the death of Shigeru Yokota, the father of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korea when she was in the first year of junior high school, and who served as the first president of the family association of the abductees. His wife, Sakie, held a press conference on the 1th, mentioning that she had been hospitalized for the first time after falling ill, and strongly urged the government to make efforts so that she can be reunited with her daughter while she is still alive.
Shigeru Yokota spearheaded rescue efforts as the first representative of the abductees' family association formed in 1997, but died in 2020 at the age of 87 without being able to reunite with his daughter. Next month, three years have passed since then, and my wife, Sakie, held a press conference.
Ms. Sakie, who attended the press conference with a photo of Shigeru that is usually displayed in the living room, said, "I still put a hot cup of tea in front of the photo every morning and talk to Shigeru," and then said, "My sons are doing their best, so I am doing my best, hoping that something will surely come out."
Sakie, who is now 3 years old, the same age as Shigeru's death, revealed that she became aware of death for the first time after she fell ill and was hospitalized, saying, "As you get older, it's normal for you to get sick and die, so for decades I've been saying, 'Please solve it as soon as possible.' Why doesn't the Japan government come out stronger when the abductions are being carried out?"
His daughter Megumi, who was abducted by North Korea in 87 when she was in the first grade of junior high school, is still unaccounted for, and this November marks 1977 years since her abduction.
Sakie said, "We need to get Megumi and all the other abductees to come back, and I hope that Prime Minister Kishida will send a message in a way that conveys the heart of Japanese leader Kim Jong-un, 'Let's talk about peace with each other.' Unless Japan and North Korea negotiate, unless they look each other in the eye and talk, we will not know their true hearts, so I hope that this will happen as soon as possible," he said, calling for the early realization of a Japan-North Korea summit meeting.