Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has appointed new Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato to double as minister in charge of the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea.
This is the second time for Kato, 64, to assume the post, following a three-year term from October 2015. Kato made phone calls to the families of the abductees himself to notify them of the appointment.
"I trust him. I hope he finds a way to reclaim [the abductees]," Sakie Yokota, 84, told reporters on Wednesday. Her daughter, Megumi Yokota, was abducted when she was 13.
Yokota said Kato told her on the phone that he would work hard.
"Our only wish is to have Megumi and other children come home quickly, as soon as possible. I just hope it will happen," Yokota said.
Shigeo Iizuka, 82, whose sister, Yaeko Taguchi, was abducted when she was 22, also received a call from Kato.
"Now that he is the chief cabinet secretary, I think it will be easier for him to work on this than before. He clearly said [over the phone] that he would make an effort, so I have high expectations of him," said Iizuka, who now heads the group of the abductees' families.
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