Takuya Yokota, who heads a group of families of Japanese abductees to North Korea, on Saturday expressed relief over the outcome of the talks held the previous day between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Yokota, 56, a brother of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korea in 1977 when she was just 13, commented on Ishiba's first face-to-face meeting with Trump, which took place in Washington. "It was good that (Japan) stated the necessity of resolving the issue and was able to gain support from the United States, and that the two countries were able to fall into step (with each other) on the human rights violation by North Korea," he said.
"It is important for the families to be reunited (with the victims) in Japan while the parents' generation is still alive," he added.
Sakie, the 89-year-old mother of Takuya and Megumi, also said, "I'm not sure how much the United States talked about the topic, but I hope it did."
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