The five Japanese abductees who returned from North Korea in October 2002 are about to usher in their second year since their repatriation in a state of anguish, hoping their loved ones who were not allowed to leave North Korea will be able to join them soon.
The five, who were abducted by Pyongyang agents in 1978, have voiced frustration over Tokyo's inability to get North Korea to send their kin over.
"I never imagined there would be no progress after this much time. I feel very down when I think that another year is around the corner," Hitomi Soga, 44, told reporters earlier this month in her hometown of Mano on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture.