Tokyo, Nov. 15 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed her determination Sunday to realize the return home of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted to North Korea nearly half a century ago.

Sunday marked 49 years since Yokota was kidnapped from the central Japan city of Niigata on Nov. 15, 1977, when she was a junior high school student.

"I feel very sorry that Yokota has not been able to return to Japan," Takaichi said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The prime minister reiterated her determination to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea decades ago, saying that bringing back all abduction victims as soon as possible is her mission.

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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at a parliamentary meeting Friday

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]