Mother of abduction victim appeals for early return | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Monday marks the 62nd birthday of Yokota Megumi, who was abducted by North Korea during her first year of junior high school. On the occasion, her mother Sakie appealed for her daughter's earliest possible return.

Sakie, who turned 90 this year, said she feels indignant and frustrated that she can't even hear her daughter's voice after having worked so hard for nearly 50 years.

Megumi was abducted by North Korean agents 49 years ago, on November 15, 1977, on her way home from school in Niigata City, on the Sea of Japan coast.

At age 90, Sakie is the only living parent of the government-recognized abductees who remain unaccounted for.

She lamented that despite her travels across Japan to keep talking about the issue, no information has come to light.

She said she had bought a cake on Megumi's birthday until several years ago. But she added that she stopped buying one because she became unable to bear doing the same thing over and over. She said even now she cannot forget the warmth she felt when her daughter was born.

When Megumi's younger brother Takuya visited the US last month to seek US cooperation in resolving the abduction issue, he brought with him a scarf knitted by his sister. Asked about the scarf, Sakie said she taught Megumi how to knit at her urging when she was a sixth grader. She recalled that she and Megumi were laughing together when Megumi said, "It's so much fun that I haven't realized how long the scarf is getting."

Sakie went on to say that at her age, she tends to get overwhelmed by emotion and she wonders how much longer she can carry on. But she said she knows she must stay calm and do her best until the day Megumi returns to Japan.