Sakie Yokota, the mother of a young girl abducted by North Korea, and her twin sons, Takuya and Tetsuya, met Joseph Young, charge d'affaires ad interim of the U.S. Embassy in Japan, on Tuesday in Tokyo to express their gratitude for U.S. support on the issue.
The Japanese government has acknowledged that the girl, Megumi Yokota, was abducted by North Korea at the age of 13 in 1977.
The Yokota family had received a letter of condolence from U.S. President Donald Trump following the death of Megumi's father, Shigeru, in June at the age of 87. It is believed that the meeting was made possible by the family's wish to express their gratitude to the U.S. side in person.
After the meeting, which lasted about 45 minutes, the 84-year-old mother spoke to reporters and said, "I received a lot of sympathy from the U.S. government," adding, "I hope that we can continue to work with various countries to promote with great care human rights issues [including the abduction issue]."
Takuya, 52, said that Young told the family the U.S. government will continue to stand alongside them. "We were encouraged again by his words," Takuya said.
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