A U.N. Human Rights Council working group has added 12 missing Japanese people, not officially recognized as North Korean abduction victims, to a list urging Pyongyang to confirm their safety. The move comes as families mark 48 years since the abduction of Megumi Yokota. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi vows to resolve the longstanding issue.
The U.N. Human Rights Council working group on enforced disappearances compiled a list of about 40 people and sent it to North Korea in February, requesting confirmation of their safety and protection of their human rights. The list includes government-recognized abductees such as Megumi Yokota, who was 13 when abducted in Niigata Prefecture.
Earlier this month, the working group informed the Tokyo-based Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea that 12 people not officially recognized as abduction victims would be added. Examples include Takashi Osawa, who disappeared at age 27 in 1974 on Niigata's Sado Island, and Minako Nakamura, who went missing at 18 in Niigata's Nagaoka in 1998.
Kazuhiro Araki, head of the commission, said, "I hope the Japanese government will take this opportunity to provide information to the United Nations and change the situation."
Saturday marked 48 years since Yokota's abduction on Nov. 15, 1977, while she was walking home from junior high school in Niigata. At a rally in the city that day, Shoichi Osawa, 89, brother of Takashi, referenced the list and urged the government to intensify efforts to rescue those not officially recognized.
Progress on the abductions has stalled since the early 2000s, when some victims returned under then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office last month, stated she will "do whatever it takes" to resolve the issue.