Newsfrom Japan
Politics
Nov 15, 2025 10:00 (JST)
Tokyo, Nov. 15 (Jiji Press)–With Saturday marking 48 years since the abduction of a 13-year-old Japanese girl by North Korea, time appears to be running out for Japan to resolve the abduction issue.
There is no prospect in sight for a Japan-North Korea summit sought by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office last month.
On Nov. 15, 1977, Megumi Yokota was on her way home from junior high school in the central Japan city of Niigata when she was abducted and taken to North Korea.
Takaichi has voiced eagerness to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying she will “do whatever it takes” to resolve the issue of North Korea’s abductions of Japanese nationals decades ago.
Progress on resolving the abduction issue, however, has been at a standstill since some abductees and their family members returned to Japan in 2002 and 2004 under the administration of then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Jiji Press
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