Family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago, from left, Koichiro Iizuka, Takuya Yokota, Sakie Yokota and Tetsuya Yokota, speak with the press after a meeting with Elizabeth Salmon, U.N. special rapporteur on North Korean human rights situation, in Tokyo on July 1, 2025. (Kyodo)
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago shared their pain on Tuesday with a U.N. special rapporteur on North Korean human rights, who expressed empathy as they sought support to help resolve the issue, according to one of the relatives.
Takuya Yokota, the younger brother of iconic abductee Megumi Yokota, was among the group of victims’ families who met with U.N. human rights expert Elizabeth Salmon in Tokyo. Following her trip to Japan, Salmon plans to present her findings and recommendations in a report to the U.N. General Assembly in October.
“She told us that she shares our anger and suffering over our situation. We believe she has gained a very deep understanding,” Yokota, 56, told reporters after the closed meeting.
Megumi Yokota was kidnapped at age 13 on her way home from school in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast and is among the 17 people officially listed by Japan as abducted in the 1970s and 1980s by North Korea. Pyongyang maintains that the abduction issue has been resolved.
Only five of the 17 abductees were repatriated in 2002, a group that did not include Megumi. No tangible progress has been made on the issue since, while the families have continued to age.
The group of victims’ families informed Salmon of the death of Akihiro Arimoto, the father of Keiko Arimoto, who was 23 when she was abducted. He died in February at the age of 96.
“We will continue to fight in the belief that having these kinds of meetings will work against North Korea, which dislikes having the human rights issue being brought up,” Yokota said. “We would like to ask for ongoing support from the international community and the domestic public.”
Among those in attendance were Megumi’s mother, Sakie Yokota, 89, and Koichiro Iizuka, 48, the son of Yaeko Taguchi, who went missing at age 22.
Salmon previously met with the families during her visit to Japan in December 2022.
AloJapan.com