One autumn evening like any other, 13-year old Megumi Yokota is walking home from badminton practice at her local middle school. Suddenly, somebody grabs her violently from behind. They abduct her and trap her inside a boat. As the vessel sets sail, she cries and screams for her mother to come save her, and she claws the side of the boat until her nails bleed. But there is no way her mother could even know. The vessel is already on its way to North Korea.
This horrifying event, the details of which were provided by Ms. Yokota’s family and a former North Korean agent, took place on November 15th, 1977. It has been over 47 years since, but Ms. Yokota has yet to return home. In fact, to this day, nobody truly knows where she is.
Ms. Yokota is not alone. During the 1970s and 1980s, North Korean perpetrators indiscriminately abducted Japanese citizens. 17 citizens have been officially recognized by the Japanese government as abductees, though many others have not. Officially, the North Korean government admitted to abducting Japanese citizens and issued an apology at the first Japan-North Korea summit in September 2002. North Korea has returned five abductees and pledged to identify the whereabouts of the rest. Of the rest, the government claimed that four never entered the country and eight have died. In order to corroborate these claims, the North Korean government has sent alleged evidence of the death of the eight abductees, including death certificates, reports of traffic accidents, hospital records, and bodily remains of Ms. Yokota and another victim. However, various inconsistencies have been identified between the provided records and accounts by returned abductees and former North Korean agents, and DNA tests have shown that the remains belonged to other individuals.
Both Japanese citizens and the government have made efforts to bring the abducted citizens home. Currently headed by Takuya Yokota, the brother of Ms.Yokota, the families of the abductees founded the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea in 1997 to raise awareness and lobby the Japanese government to continue their efforts. For its part, the Japanese government has demanded the return of abducted citizens at every meeting with North Korean government officials. In order to pressure North Korea further, Japan severely restricts the movement of people and currency between the two countries and designates increasing numbers of entities and individuals for asset-freezing measures. The North Korean government initially appeared to be cooperative in launching investigations into the case of missing Japanese citizens in the early 2000s. However, as its relations with the Japanese government became more tense, it has ceased all investigations. Ever since, this issue has been threatening Japan’s sovereignty, as the country is seemingly unable to protect its own people from harm by another country.
In order to regain control over the situation, Japan has called for aid from the international community. Japanese leaders have urged international leaders for their cooperation in solving the abduction issue at the UN General Assembly, G7, and other Summit Meetings. There have also been bilateral agreements. For instance, during his first presidency, US President Donald Trump brought up the issue with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at the request of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has also pledged support to Japan on the issue. However, while international leaders have repeatedly pledged to work to solve the issue with urgency and to pressure North Korea to send the hostages home, no concrete actions have been taken.
Although solidarity amongst leaders is laudable, momentum must not be abandoned. The abduction issue is not solely a Japanese domestic issue; it is a clear violation of human rights with the possibility of resolution through negotiations with North Korea. Furthermore, the abduction issue represents a broader, alarming trend in international relations between North Korea and the rest of the world. North Korea threatens the sovereignty of countries worldwide, as they remain unable to get favorable terms on negotiations partially due to fear of North Korean nuclear and missile attacks.
Discussions amongst international leaders are only the first step. The global public must have more conversations about the abduction issue, specifically where the issue is not well-known in countries like South Korea and the US. Victims’ stories demand attention at large, and this issue and its impacts on international relations deserve more coverage. A heightened worldwide awareness of the abduction issue will continue pushing world leaders to negotiate solutions. As the relatives of the abductees are nearing the end of their lives, the resolution of this issue will only become more dire.
Featured/Headline Image Caption and Citation: “Abducted Return Home” | Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons | CC License, no changes made