<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Prime Minister <a href="http://washingtonexaminer.com/tag/sanae-takaichi/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sanae Takaichi</a> is seeking justice at the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/united-nations/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">United Nations</a> for Japanese citizens she claims are still held captive by North Korea, coinciding with appeals from victim families in Washington, D.C.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">During her inaugural speech at the assembly in New York City on September 22, 2026, Takaichi focused on the ongoing detention of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean authorities, a situation that remains largely unknown to the American public but continues to provoke outrage in Japan.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“The issue of abductions by North Korea is an ongoing matter with lives at stake. The abductees are still denied their freedoms and their families continue to suffer,” Takaichi stated to world leaders. “This is a matter of great concern not only for Japan but for the international community.”</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="Takaichi United Nations speech" class="wp-image-4738721" height="682" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/AP26265844591928.jpg?w=696" width="1024" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi addresses the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)</figcaption></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the 1970s and 1980s, <a href="https://www.mofa.go.jp/a_o/na/kp/page1we_000068.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Japanese citizens began disappearing</a> from coastal regions without explanation. It was later revealed that these young victims, mostly in their 20s, were abducted by North Korean agents. Testimonies from North Korean defectors <a href="https://www.ncnk.org/sites/default/files/content/resources/publications/CRS_Japan_abductees_2008_RS22845.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">indicate</a> that these abductees were used to train spies in the Japanese language and culture. Despite decades of negotiations, only a few have returned.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">North Korea has claimed that the remaining abductees are deceased, a statement Takaichi’s government believes to be false. The prime minister has committed to making every effort to resolve the issue.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“As the abductees and their families are aging, the abductees issue must be resolved immediately,” Takaichi continued. “For the sake of the future of both Japan and North Korea, I am prepared to engage in dialogue and take concrete action to establish a mutually fruitful relationship.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Seth Bailey, principal deputy assistant secretary for the State Department Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, met with the Japanese delegation during the assembly to discuss “the ongoing effort to resolve this issue.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“[America] will stand with Japan until all abductees are reunited with their families,” the bureau <a href="https://x.com/USAsiaPacific/status/2102499051514056995" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">stated on social media</a>.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In Washington, D.C., two family members of victims have arrived to advocate for assistance from President Donald Trump’s administration in bringing home relatives they have not seen in nearly 50 years.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We, as the family members, would like to see the U.S. leverage everything […] in order to get all of our family members back,” Takuya Yokota, head of the Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, told the <em>Washington Examiner</em> during an interview at the Japanese Embassy on Tuesday.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="Takuya Yokota and Iizuka Koichiro" class="wp-image-4738543" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/DSCF5928.jpg?w=696" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Takuya Yokota and Iizuka Koichiro hold up photos of their relatives taken by North Korea in the 1970s. Pyongyang has claimed both victims have died, but DNA testing and counterintelligence have convinced both that their family members are still alive. (Timothy Nerozzi/Washington Examiner)</figcaption></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Yokota acknowledges the difficulty of the request but believes that the cooperation between Japanese and American leaders may create an opportunity for Trump to be persuaded.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“[Takaichi] has established a relationship of trust with President Trump and is also engaging in strong messaging directed at the international community,” he stated. “For that reason, I think that she, even from a North Korean perspective, is in a strong position to negotiate [with Pyongyang].”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Yokota’s sister, Megumi Yokota, was kidnapped in 1977 at the age of 13. Her abduction has become a significant tragedy in Japan, and events honoring her are <a href="https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20231116-149663/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">held annually</a> on the anniversary of her kidnapping.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He brought various items belonging to his missing sister to the embassy, including her old gym class uniform and a scarf knitted by their mother.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">More than 20 years after Megumi’s disappearance, during a summit with Japan in 2002, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/pyongyang" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pyongyang</a> admitted to her abduction but claimed she later committed suicide. Officials returned her cremated remains as a gesture of goodwill, but Japanese DNA testing determined that the remains did not belong to her.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Yokota believes Megumi is still alive and being held in North Korea. She would be 61 years old now. Her father died waiting for her release, while her mother continues to hope for her return.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In 2004, North Korea <a href="https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/11/19/2003211664" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">provided photos of her</a> taken during her captivity, showing her as an adult woman living in North Korea and as a terrified teenager shortly after her abduction.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Yokota told the <em>Washington Examiner</em>, “Looking at this photo, each person will try to put into words — in their own hearts — what it is that Megumi is trying to convey to us. We can’t hear Megumi’s voice, but I believe that she is crying out, ‘Mom, here I am, please help.’ I believe that if you were to picture yourself being on the other side of that camera, or your family or your child or your sibling on the other side of that camera, you would be able to imagine how outrageous this issue is.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Ministry of Foreign Affairs <a href="https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/n_korea/abduction/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recognizes 17 Japanese nationals</a> who have been kidnapped by North Korea. Five were repatriated following the 2002 summit, but Pyongyang claims the others are deceased. The Japanese National Police Agency maintains that hundreds of additional individuals may have been abducted without direct evidence.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="Takuya Yokota" class="wp-image-4738541" height="683" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/DSCF5905.jpg?w=696" width="1024" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Takuya Yokota holds up a school gym uniform worn by his older sister, Megumi Yokota, before she was abducted by North Korea in 1977. Megumi was just 13 years old. (Photo: Timothy Nerozzi)</figcaption></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Koichiro Iizuka, secretary-general of the victim families association, was only one year old when his mother, Taguchi Yaeko, was taken by North Koreans in 1978. He and his sister were adopted and raised by relatives, but Iizuka has dedicated his life to reuniting with the mother he never knew.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I have no recollection of what it was like to talk to her, to touch her, or what her face looked like,” Iizuka said, gesturing to an old family photo.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Taguchi was confirmed as an abductee at the 2002 summit, but <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/north-korea/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">North Korean</a> officials also reported her to be dead. Iizuka rejects that claim, speculating that Japanese nationals may still be alive as potential bargaining chips, although he and Yokota lack access to intelligence that could confirm or deny their beliefs.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Naturally, we are just regular citizens and have no idea what goes on in the world of intelligence,” Iizuka admitted.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Yokota and Iizuka are not government officials and do not have the authority to speak for Japan. However, they hope that their meetings with U.S. officials and experts in Washington will renew international efforts to bring their relatives home before it is too late. This is their latest visit; they have spoken with every American president since George W. Bush.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump has acknowledged the North Korean abduction victims multiple times during his presidencies.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">During a speech at the U.N. in 2017, he acknowledged Megumi Yokota: “We know [the North Korean government] kidnapped a sweet 13-year-old Japanese girl from a beach in her own country to enslave her as a language tutor for North Korea’s spies.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In December of last year, he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l1ctxn2u0w" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">met with Takaichi</a> and the victim families in Tokyo, expressing solidarity on behalf of the United States.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="Trump meets with families of victims abducted by North Korea" class="wp-image-4738688" height="683" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/AP25301173535138.jpg?w=696" width="1024" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President Donald Trump, center left, with Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, center right, meets with family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, at the Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Kiyoshi Ota/Pool Photo via AP)</figcaption></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’ve met the families before, and I’m with them all the way and the U.S. is with them all the way,” he said at the meeting.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Takaichi’s current goal is to secure a <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/05/31/japan/politics/takaichi-north-korea-summit-abduction-issue/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">summit with the North Korean regime</a> to address the abduction issue and work toward a resolution. This has become a common theme in her political rallies and speeches.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong><a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/4729262/us-court-finds-iran-and-north-korea-liable-for-terrorist-attacks-harming-americans/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">US COURT FINDS IRAN AND NORTH KOREA LIABLE FOR TERRORIST ATTACKS HARMING AMERICANS</a></strong></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I would like to take a courageous step forward with Mr. Kim [Jong Un] for the citizens of both countries and their youths of the future. […] I am prepared to hold talks and take concrete actions to build a relationship that is fruitful for the two nations,” she stated at a rally in May. “I am determined to make a breakthrough and resolve the abduction issue without excluding any options.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The U.S. would play a crucial role in this process, as Japan has no formal relations with North Korea while Trump has met with Kim Jong Un three times.</p>