48 Years On, Time Running Out for Japan in Abduction Issue

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. “It is truly regrettable that since the return of five abduction victims to Japan in 2002, we have not been able to secure the return of even a single abductee, including Yokota,” Takaichi told reporters on Friday. “I hope to meet the (North Korean) leader head-on and take bold actions to achieve favorable results, in order to forge a new, fruitful relationship between Japan and North Korea,” the prime minister said. “I’m determined to make a breakthrough during my time (as prime minister), without ruling out any options,” she added. At a rally on the abduction issue held Nov. 3, Takaichi revealed that she had “already called on” Pyongyang to arrange a summit with Kim. It is extremely rare for the government to disclose behind-the-scenes exchanges between the two nations. Still, there has been no concrete progress since then. Takaichi’s latest remarks likely reflect her impatience. Nearly 50 years after the issue first emerged, time is running out, with the families of the abductees growing older. The situation has been further affected by drastic changes in the international environment surrounding North Korea. Russia, which continues its invasion of Ukraine, has also strengthened its military cooperation with Pyongyang. China’s forging of deeper ties with the two nations has turned the situation into “an unfavorable environment for Japan,” a Japanese government source said. On the abduction issue, a senior official at the prime minister’s office said, “There’s no point in doing the same thing again because there had been no progress so far.” “The situation will not change unless we do something different,” the official added, indicating that there had been no behind-the-scenes negotiations between Japan and North Korea before Takaichi called on Pyongyang to hold a bilateral summit. North Korea has not commented publicly on the matter since Kim’s younger sister, Yo Jong, said in a statement issued in March last year that Pyongyang would ignore and reject contacts and negotiations with Japan. Since then, North Korea has continued provocative actions, including the launch of a ballistic missile on Nov. 7. A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said that Japan-North Korea negotiations could “advance” if U.S. President Donald Trump holds a summit with the North Korean leader. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]