Photo/Illutration Sakie Yokota at a news conference on Nov. 7 in Kawasaki (Ryota Goto)

KAWASAKI--Ahead of the 46th anniversary on Nov. 15 of the North Korean abduction of her daughter, 87-year-old Sakie Yokota expressed her frustration at a news conference here. 

“I’m angry, or rather, I’m utterly exhausted,” she said while emphasizing her determination to get Megumi, who was 13 at the time she was abducted, back safely to Japan. 

North Korean agents snatched Megumi in 1977 from a beach area near her home in Niigata facing the Sea of Japan after attending a club activity at her junior high school.  

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had expressed his willingness to “hold high-level talks directly under my control” at a national gathering in May, which demanded the return of the abductees including Megumi to Japan.

Since then, however, there has been no major movement.

“I have asked not only Mr. Kishida, but also Mr. (Shinzo) Abe and each of the previous prime ministers to the point where I am disgusted,” Sakie said. “I have been frustrated for decades, and I am tired of it.”

She emphasized that she “has the determination to get (Megumi) back.”

At the same time, she reflected on her recent physical condition and lamented, “I’m really tired. I don’t have as much energy as I used to."

Sakie was hospitalized at the end of February this year after falling ill.

Referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and reports of him accompanying his own daughter in public, Sakie said, "I wonder how much he must love and care for (his daughter).”

Then she addressed Kim directly: “I want you to know that we are thinking about our children just as much as you are being kind to yours."