Now,it is our turn

MURAYAMA Kaho
10th grade, Takeda Junior & Senior High School

“Mom! Mom!” In the pitch-dark, cold boat, Megumi Yokota cried and screamed for 40 hours, scratching here and there in doorways and walls, and when she arrived in North Korea, her fingernails were almost peeled off and she was covered in blood.
 From the day she disappeared, her family’s life changed forever. At night, her father cried in the bath and her mother cried alone away from the family.

Could you bear it if your happiness is suddenly destroyed?
Could you bear it if your loved one suddenly disappear in this way?

I want you to take some time to think about this. If your sibling disappears without any trace, no one had contact with you for ransom. You can’t anything but wait for your sibling will come back. If I were in the situation, I wouldn’t know what to do. And I would feel hopeless to live.
 Such as inhumane incident actually happened in Japan.
17 Japanese people, including Yokota Megumi, were abducted by North Korea. They abducted people not only from Japan but also from several other countries and regions of the world. My heart ache this unforgivable state- sponsored incident.
 The perposes of the abduction were both the spy-training and the Japanese instruction for the agents. North Korea acknowledged the abduction at the first Japan-North Korea summit and it was even after 25 years later after Megumi’s abduction had occurred. It took so many years that this tragedy was shown to the public.

The incident has not yet been resolved, and unfortunately due to aging, some family members have passed away without ever seeing their abductees. What can we do achieve this? Japanese school should dedicate a time to think about this abduction issue. Actually there is a special week “North Korean Human Rights Abuses Awareness Week” in Japan, but in reallity few people, especially younger generation know this week. How about providing a study time on the abduction issue at each school once a year, such as peace studies? We should start with learning the background of North Korea why they had abducted, including history. We also must ask the Japanese government to share the latest information.
 The abduction issue must never happen again, and we younger generation, must not give up and stand up for a solution.