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It feels like this is not reality,
like I have been walking through some kind of novel for the past 31 years.
Sakie and Shigeru Yokota frequently share their story with the press.
The cameras keep their story alive.
The attention brings hope for the safe return of their daughter, Megumi.
I worked hard through screams and tears.
I cannot express the pain I felt during my years in Niigata.
At 13 years of age, Megumi disappeared on November 15,
more than 30 years ago,
in a quiet Niigata neighborhood
northwest of Tokyo.
Megumi was a middle school student,
and was scheduled to return from badminton practice at 6:30 p.m.
Megumi has two younger brothers
with whom Sakie searched the neighborhood,
the waterfront and the vacant hotel nearby.
We did not find any trace of Megumi.
Police dogs tracked Megumi's scent to an intersection a few feet from her home.
They followed it to a street near the waterfront,
but never found her.
Investigators thought she'd been kidnapped for ransom,
but didn't have any evidence.
The case went cold for 20 years.
It was almost as though she had disappeared like smoke.
There is no way to describe the 20 years I spent without any hint of what had happened.
But in January 1997,
the Japanese government called with chilling news.
Megumi had been spotted alive in North Korea.
We finally found her. I am so glad to be alive.
She will return home immediately. That's what went through my mind.
Five years later, North Korean leader
Kim Jong Il apologized for the abduction,
then admitted to kidnapping a dozen other Japanese citizens,
taking them from Japan
and forcing them into spy ships like this one.
They were used to train North Korean spies,
to teach them how to look and act Japanese.
The Yokotas led the fight to bring the abductees home.
North Korea returned five of them and claimed
Megumi and the others had died.
This is the death certificate that was sent to the Yokotas along with her remains.
Sakie says scientists studied the remains
and determined through a DNA test
that they didn't belong to her daughter.
We have learned the true nature of North Korea
through the pictures they released of Megumi
and through their attempt to declare her dead by giving us false remains.
The Yokotas's personal tragedy has become a heated political issue in Japan.
It has complicated nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea.
Japanese leaders insist North Korea isn't telling the whole story,
and believe there are dozens of others like Megumi who haven't been identified.
The government has refused to normalize relations with North Korea
until the abductee issue is resolved.
I want people to understand the true nature of North Korea.
I also want them to know that this is not just an issue for Japan, but also for South Korea
and for 12 other countries who have had citizens abducted.
Sakie Yokota says she has uncovered uglier truths.
She says her own investigation revealed
that the Japanese government knew about the North Korean abductions in the 1980s,
but did nothing about it.
Now the Yokotas lead a very public mission
on behalf of other families of abductees.
They travel around the world to
meet with politicians and the press
and plead for help.
This is from one of our most memorable trips during our Hiroshima days.
And with every opportunity
the Yokotas offer glimpses into their private life
in hopes it opens doors to the truth.
A picture released by North Korea shows
Megumi with her husband, a South Korean abductee.
Another shows the couple celebrating their daughter's first birthday.
The picture was taken 20 years ago,
but Sakie and Shigeru refuse to give up hope
that their daughter is alive.
After more than 30 years of fighting
they say the world is finally paying attention.