Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed sorrow at the death of Shigeru Yokota, whose daughter Megumi Yokota was abducted by North Korea, while speaking to reporters Friday night.
With the death of Yokota, a key member of the abductees' families, the government has lost a symbol of resolving the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea. The government has placed top priority on the overall resolution, but the issue has reached an impasse, and the families of other abductees are also aging.
"I feel heartbroken and I'm sorry," Abe told reporters Friday night in front of his private residence in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, regretting that he could not bring about Megumi's return to Japan. He was sometimes at a loss for words while recounting his memories. It is unusual for the prime minister to answer questions in front of his private residence.
Abe was serving as deputy chief cabinet secretary under then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2002, when five Japanese abductees returned to Japan. Abe met Yokota on a regular basis. In April 2018, he visited a hospital in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, where Yokota was hospitalized.
At a Japan-North Korea government-level meeting held in Stockholm, Sweden, in May 2014, both sides reached an agreement on a "full investigation" that would include not only abduction victims but also other specified missing persons. Later, however, North Korea unilaterally declared that it would suspend the reinvestigation.
At the first-ever summit between the United States and North Korea in Singapore in June 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump proposed a resolution to the abduction issue, and Abe prepared by having Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga concurrently serve as minister in charge of the abduction issue in the cabinet reshuffle in October of the same year.
Abe has repeatedly said, "I am determined to face Kim Jong Un," but the situation has stalled due to the stalemate in U.S.-North Korea negotiations.
Regarding future negotiations between Japan and North Korea, Abe said on Friday, "The government of Japan will not overlook various developments, and will seize opportunities and act decisively to realize [negotiations]."
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