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Abductees' families hold rally

Sakie Yokota, 89, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea at age 13 in 1977, speaks during a rally staged by Japanese abductees' families and their supporters in Tokyo on May 24, 2025. About 800 people, including Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, attended.

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Abductees' families meet with PM

Takuya Yokota, head of a group representing the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades earlier, speaks to journalists after he and other group members met with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the premier's office in Tokyo on May 22, 2025. Yokota's sister, Megumi, was abducted in 1977 at age 13.

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Japan PM meet families of abductees

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (far L) meets with families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea at the premier's office in Tokyo on Feb. 20, 2025. Among them were Takuya Yokota (2nd from L), head of a group representing the families, whose sister Megumi was abducted by the North in 1977 at age 13, and their mother, Sakie (2nd from R).

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Japan PM meet families of abductees

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (L) speaks at a meeting with families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea at the premier's office in Tokyo on Feb. 20, 2025. Seen in the foreground is Sakie Yokota, whose daughter, Megumi, was abducted by North Korea at age 13 in 1977.

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Families of abductees slam gov't plan for N. Korea liaison offices

Takuya Yokota (L), head of a group representing the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 16, 2025. The group reaffirmed its opposition to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's plan to set up liaison offices in Tokyo and Pyongyang to resolve the long-standing issue.

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Families of abductees slam gov't plan for N. Korea liaison offices

Takuya Yokota, head of a group representing the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 16, 2025. The group reaffirmed its opposition to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's plan to set up liaison offices in Tokyo and Pyongyang to resolve the long-standing issue.

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Families of abductees slam gov't plan for N. Korea liaison offices

Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea at age 13 in 1977, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 16, 2025. The group reaffirmed its opposition to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's plan to set up liaison offices in Tokyo and Pyongyang to resolve the long-standing issue.

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Japan PM Ishiba meets abductees' families

Sakie Yokota (front, L), whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea at age 13 in 1977, meets the press following a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the premier's office in Tokyo on Oct. 17, 2024. Seen on the right is Megumi's brother Takuya.

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Japan PM Ishiba meets abductees' families

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (facing camera) speaks during a meeting at his office in Tokyo on Oct. 17, 2024, with the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, including Sakie Yokota (R), whose daughter Megumi was abducted at age 13 in 1977.

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Japan PM Ishiba meets abductees' families

Sakie Yokota (C), whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea at age 13 in 1977, speaks during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the premier's office in Tokyo on Oct. 17, 2024. Seen on the right is Megumi's brother Takuya.

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Japan PM Ishiba meets abductees' families

Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea at age 13 in 1977, speaks during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the premier's office in Tokyo on Oct. 17, 2024.

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Abe, abduction victim's kin

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) talks with Shigeru Yokota (L) and Sakie Yokota (R), during a gathering in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2013, for the return of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea. The Yokotas' daughter, Megumi, was taken to North Korea in 1977 at age 13 and has become a symbol of the abductions issue.

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Abductee's kin

KAWASAKI, Japan - (From L) Sakie and Shigeru Yokota answer reporters' questions in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, after North Korea conducted a third nuclear test on Feb. 12, 2013. Their daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea in 1977 at the age of 13.

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N. Korean abduction victims' kin at concert for return of abductees

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeru and Sakie Yokota (far R, 2nd from R), parents of Megumi, a symbol of the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea, and Hitomi Soga (far L), a former abductee repatriated in 2002, attend a government-hosted concert in Tokyo on Dec. 8, 2014, for the return of the abductees.

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Kin of Japanese abductees listen to gov't briefing

TOKYO, Japan - Family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s attend a government briefing session on Pyongyang's reinvestigation into their fate in Tokyo on Sept. 19, 2014. Shigeo Iizuka (extreme R), who heads a group of abductee families, takes a note while Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie sitting next to him look on.

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Concert held for abductee Megumi Yokota's safe return

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeru Yokota (2nd from L) and his wife Sakie (L), the parents of Megumi Yokota who was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977, listen to a violin performance by one of Megumi's former classmates in Tokyo on Aug. 23, 2014, during a concert dedicated for Megumi's safe return to Japan.

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Photo exhibit on abductee to N. Korea starts in Kawasaki

KAWASAKI, Japan - Some 40 photos of Megumi Yokota, who has become a symbol of Japanese nationals abducted in the past by North Korea, are shown at an exhibition on July 28, 2014, in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, where her aging parents Shigeru and Sakie Yokota live.

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Kawasaki mayor delivers letter from Megumi Yokota's parents

GENEVA, Switzerland - Kawasaki Mayor Norihiko Fukuda (R) delivers a letter from Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie, the parents of Megumi Yokota who was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977, to United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Flavia Pansieri on July 10, 2014, in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Abductees' relatives

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka (front), who heads a group of family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents, answers reporters' questions after meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with other group members -- (from far L to R) Teruaki Masumoto, Sakie Yokota and Shigeru Yokota -- at the premier's office in Tokyo on July 4, 2014. Japan finalized the same day its decision to lift some of its unilateral sanctions on North Korea as Pyongyang launched a special committee to investigate the fate of Japanese nationals it abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.

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Meeting of lawmakers' league against abduction

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, head of a group of families of victims kidnapped by North Korea (3rd from R), and Shigeru Yokota (2nd from R) and Sakie Yokota (extreme R), parents of Megumi Yokota who was abducted by North Korea, attend a general meeting of the parliamentarian's league working to resolve the issue of abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea at the Diet in Tokyo on June 5, 2014.

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Abductee kin comment on N. Korea's accord to reopen probe

KAWASAKI, Japan - Shigeru Yokota (R) and his wife Sakie meet reporters in Kawasaki west of Tokyo on May 29, 2014, to comment on Pyongyang's pledge to resume a full investigation into the fate of their daughter Megumi and other Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents decades ago.

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Abductee kin speak about Japan-N. Korea accord

KAWASKI, Japan - Shigeru (L) and Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korean agents from Japan in 1977 when she was 13, meet reporters on May 28, 2014, after news that Pyongyang has agreed to reopen an inquiry into abductees still unaccounted for.

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Concert to pray for Yokotas' reunion with abducted daughter

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeru Yokota (C) and his wife Sakie listen to music played by violinist Naoya Yoshida at a concert held in Tokyo on May 3, 2014, to pray for the couple's reunion as soon as possible with their daughter Megumi, who was abducted by North Korean agents. Yoshida was a classmate of Megumi at a junior high school in Niigata.

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Kin of N. Korea's abduction victims call for early rescue

TOKYO, Japan - Families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents call for their prompt rescue at a rally in Tokyo on April 27, 2014. On the stage are (from L) Teruaki Masumoto, Kayoko Arimoto, Sakie Yokota and her husband Shigeru, and Shigeo Iizuka.

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Yokota urges prompt rescue of abducted Japanese from N. Korea

TOKYO, Japan - Sakie Yokota (L) calls for the prompt rescue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea at a rally in Tokyo on April 27, 2014, as her husband Shigeru looks on.

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Obama meets abductees' kin

TOKYO, Japan - Sakie (R) and Shigeru Yokota, the parents of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korea at age 13, talk to reporters after a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Tokyo on April 24, 2014.

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Abductee's father Yokota speaks at gathering in Yokohama

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Shigeru Yokota (L) speaks as his wife Sakie looks on at a gathering in Yokohama, west of Tokyo, on April 12, 2014, held to discuss the question of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, including their daughter Megumi.

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Parents of Japanese abductee Megumi Yokota meet press

KAWASAKI, Japan - Shigeru (L) and Sakie Yokota, the parents of Megumi who was abducted to North Korea in 1977 when she was 13, give a press conference in Kawasaki, west of Tokyo, on March 31, 2014, after Japan and North Korea agreed to continue discussing the abduction issue.

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Play staged on N. Korea's abduction of Japanese in Niigata

NIIGATA, Japan - A stage play on the theme of North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals is staged in Niigata, northeastern Japan, on March 27, 2014, with actor Daijiro Harada (L) playing Shigeru Yokota, the father of Megumi who was abducted from Niigata to North Korea in 1977 at age 13, and actress Yuri Morimoto (C) playing Megumi.

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Abductee's parents

KAWASAKI, Japan - Shigeru Yokota (L) and his wife Sakie hold a press conference in Kawasaki near Tokyo on March 17, 2014. The parents of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted to North Korea in 1977 at age 13, met Megumi's daughter for the first time in Mongolia earlier in the month.

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Abductee's parents

KAWASAKI, Japan - Sakie Yokota (R) and her husband Shigeru hold a press conference in Kawasaki near Tokyo on March 17, 2014. The parents of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted to North Korea in 1977 at age 13, met Megumi's daughter for the first time in Mongolia earlier in the month.

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Abductee's parents

KAWASAKI, Japan - Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie hold a press conference in Kawasaki near Tokyo on March 17, 2014. The parents of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted to North Korea in 1977 at age 13, met their granddaughter for the first time in Mongolia earlier in the month.

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Abductee's parents

KAWASAKI, Japan - Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie hold a press conference in Kawasaki near Tokyo on March 17, 2014. The parents of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted to North Korea in 1977 at age 13, met their granddaughter for the first time in Mongolia earlier in the month.

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Abductee's parents

KAWASAKI, Japan - Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie hold a press conference in Kawasaki near Tokyo on March 17, 2014. The parents of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted to North Korea in 1977 at age 13, met their granddaughter for the first time in Mongolia earlier in the month.

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Abductee's parents

KAWASAKI, Japan - Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie hold a press conference in Kawasaki near Tokyo on March 17, 2014. The parents of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted to North Korea in 1977 at age 13, met their granddaughter for the first time in Mongolia earlier in the month.

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Photo exhibition of abduction victim

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeru and Sakie Yokota visit a photo exhibition in Tokyo on April 12, 2013, of their daughter Megumi (in a photo at left), the symbolic victim of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals.

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Abductees' relatives criticize N. Korea for rocket launch

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Shigeru Yokota (L) and his wife Sakie, parents of Megumi Yokota who was abducted at the age of 13 in 1977, speak with reporters in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Dec. 12, 2012. The Yokotas and other relatives of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the past criticized the country for its rocket launch the same day that could affect Tokyo-Pyongyang talks on the return of the abductees.

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Relatives of Japanese abductees express hopes for talks

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeru Yokota (front), accompanied by his wife Sakie (behind him), whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 aged 13, answers reporters' questions in Tokyo on Nov. 21, 2012, after meeting with Shinsuke Sugiyama, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau. Relatives of Japanese abductees expressed hope for the success of talks between the Japanese and North Korean governments, which were recently revived after a four-year lull, in the meeting with Sugiyama, the head of the Japanese delegation to the talks.

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Tokyo Gate Bridge lit up in blue in hope for rescue of abductees

TOKYO, Japan - (From R) Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie, whose daughter Megumi Yokota was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 aged 13, answer reporters' questions in front of Tokyo Gate Bridge in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Aug. 27, 2012. The bridge was illuminated in blue, after the blue ribbons worn by families of abductees to symbolize their call for the return of all abductees from North Korea, ahead of the 10th anniversary in October of five abductees returning home.

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Tokyo Gate Bridge lit up in blue in hope for rescue of abductees

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken Aug. 27, 2012, in Tokyo's Koto Ward shows Tokyo Gate Bridge illuminated in blue, after the blue ribbons worn by families of abductees to symbolize their call for the return of all abductees from North Korea, ahead of the 10th anniversary in October of five abductees returning home. (From R front) Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie, whose daughter Megumi Yokota was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 aged 13, view the bridge.

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Family of abductee Megumi Yokota

TOKYO, Japan - (From L) Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie, whose daughter Megumi Yokota was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 aged 13, are interviewed after a talk at Takashimaya department store in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Aug. 1, 2012.

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Family of abductee Megumi Yokota

TOKYO, Japan - (From R) Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie, whose daughter Megumi Yokota was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 aged 13, are interviewed after a talk at Takashimaya department store in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Aug. 1, 2012. To the left is Kenji Ishidaka, former producer at Asahi Broadcasting Corporation.

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New abduction minister meets victim's parents

KAWASAKI, Japan - Jin Matsubara (R), minister in charge of the North Korean abduction issue, meets Shigeru Yokota (C) and his wife Sakie, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korean agents at age 13 in 1977, at their residence in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, on Jan. 14, 2012. Matsubara assumed the portfolio the previous day.

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Envoys shown film on girl kidnapped by N. Korean agents

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (front R) speaks after the screening for ambassadors in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2011, of a documentary film of a Japanese girl kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977. Left of Noda are (from R to L) Shigeru Yokota, father of the girl, Megumi, Shigeo Iizuka, head of a group of abductees' relatives, Megumi's mother, Sakie, and Cabinet minister for the abduction issue Kenji Yamaoka.

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PM Noda at photo exhibition on abductee Yokota

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (L) speaks in front of Shigeru Yokota (R) and his wife Sakie (2nd from R), the parents of Megumi Yokota (picture) who was abducted from Japan by North Korea when she was 13, as he attends a photo exhibition on Megumi in Tokyo on Dec. 7, 2011.

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PM Noda at exhibition on abductee Yokota

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (C) looks at photographs of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted from Japan by North Korea when she was 13, while listening to explanations from her parents Shigeru (R) and Sakie (L front) at a photo exhibition on Megumi in Tokyo on Dec. 7, 2011. (Pool Photo)

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34 years on since abduction

NIIGATA, Japan - Shigeru (L on stage) and Sakie Yokota (R on stage) speak during a rally in Niigata on Nov. 15, 2011, to mark 34 years since the abduction of their daughter Megumi (photo on screen) by North Korean agents when she was 13.

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Abductee Yokota's parents meet ex-N. Korea spy

KARUIZAWA, Japan - Sakie Yokota (R) and her husband Shigeru wrap up a press conference in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on July 22, 2010, after meeting with former North Korean agent Kim Hyon Hui the previous day. The Yokotas said they heard no new information about Megumi's whereabouts.

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Abductee Yokota's parents meet ex-N. Korea spy

KARUIZAWA, Japan - Sakie Yokota (R) and her husband Shigeru, the parents of Megumi Yokota who was abducted to North Korea at 13 in the 1970s, attend a press conference in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on July 22, 2010 after meeting with former North Korean agent Kim Hyon Hui the previous day. The Yokotas said they heard no new information about Megumi's whereabouts.

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Abductee Yokota's parents meet ex-N. Korea spy

KARUIZAWA, Japan - Sakie Yokota (R) and her husband Shigeru, the parents of Megumi Yokota who was abducted to North Korea at 13 in the 1970s, attend a press conference in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on July 22, 2010 after meeting with former North Korean agent Kim Hyon Hui the previous day. The Yokotas said they heard no new information about Megumi's whereabouts.