Abductee's mom calls for Japan to act 20 years after Pyongyang summit

Just my opinion but it's a bit tacky to refer to elderly Mrs Yokota as "abductee's mom" in the headline. "Mother" is more appropriate.

So heart-breaking. Hate the fact that Japan doesn't own the force like US/Russia/CCP to freeze NK's blood, and that ChongRyon which got involved in depth to have abducted Megumi still being existing just as normal

Time to give it up. Soon several generations will pass and they'll still be demanding action. It's sad I know, but fruitless.

Unless she gets into contact with Blackwater.....

Unfortunately North Korea has zero respect for and fear of Japan.

How sad this lady must feel. I can't imagine it

Time to give it up

N Korean ex-spy Kim Hyon Hui convinced Japanese abductees are alive

As such, living hidden from NK for 3 decades, it is quite dubious that she has any pertinent intel of what is currently going on in NK or as to what happened to the abductees over the last 30+ years.

You seemed to have missed the contents of JT article. Doesn't matter she's been away from NK. She's got her own connection

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has vowed to resolve the abduction issue

Unless his fist was clenched in an almighty guts pose when he said it I will remain sceptical.

If Mrs Yokota's daughter was alive at the time of Koizumi's visit I'm sure she would have had the chance to return to Japan. She didn't.

If any of the abductees were still alive then Kim would have tried to use them as a bargaining tool of some kind. He hasn't.

Sorry Mrs Yokota but you have left this a little too late. The Japanese government knew at least 40 years ago and chose to do nothing. They could have stopped the flow of money from Japan to North Korea. They could have repatriated all North Koreans living in Japan, they could have written a letter to the Guardian. But they chose to do nothing.

"Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi remains missing after her abduction by North Korean agents aged 13 in 1977, has expressed her frustration with the Japanese government 20 years after a historic bilateral summit that saw the return of other abductees."

That's the thing, though. They DID act! They saw a situation in which relations were FINALLY thawing with the reclusive North when Koizumi went there and signed an historic agreement, being promised even that "there will be no more 'satellites' launched over Japan," and more cooperation would lead to further information on the situation, etc. But then Japan reneged. They acted the way they always do, and North Korea in turn acted the way it always does. Japan kept the abductees who returned, despite promising they would go back to NK (and I agree with Japan keeping them), but where they REALLY blew it was Koizumi buckling to right-wing outrage instead of keeping his promise, and not only keeping sanctions already in place but vowing stronger ones.

That was it. Japan acted, Ms. Yokota, and as a result you will sadly never know what actually happened to your daughter, I fear. You are used as a prop when elections are near and popularity is low, and then the PM and cabinet of the time throw you away, as always. How many PMs have promised a resolution to this issue now? Some have gone so far as to ask the US to do it for them, or bring up this bilateral at a completely unrelated international forum (like a G20 climate summit or the like), but they will never act for the better or to actually resolve things. Not anymore.

Just let it go. North Korea's just focused on being a nuclear power and raining down fire on all of us. Japan not any other country could make them think about some random person who might be or not alive. Sad but this is the reality.

I feel terrible for this poor woman, but I’ll ask the same question I always do when these perennial articles pop up:

What do you expect the Japanese government to do?

Invade North Korea?

Kidnap a few of them?

Call in the A-Team?

Barring a complete and total overthrow of the Kim regime, the matter is sadly settled.

There’s a way when there’s a will. Of course, 45 years were plenty of time to act adequately, and I surely don’t mean any official questions about the whereabouts or some noble meetings and negotiations.