President Trump and the first lady met with families of North Korean abductees at the Akasaka Palace, Tokyo, Japan, November 6, 2017.
Family members of Japanese abducted by North Korea met U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday and welcomed his sympathy for their “very sad” plight, but said it meant nothing unless it led to action to bring home their loved ones.
Trump has incorporated into his attacks on Pyongyang the story of Megumi Yokota, 13 when she was snatched off a lonely beach by North Korean agents 40 years ago, mentioning her in a September speech at the United Nations.
For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he will not rest until the return of all 13 of those Pyongyang says were kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies, making the issue a keystone of his political career.
On Monday, Trump met Megumi’s mother Sakie, becoming the third president to do so, as well as the relatives of seven other abductees Pyongyang says are dead – like Megumi, who hanged herself, North Korea says.
“We’ll work together and see if we can do something, now the spotlight is on,” Trump later told a joint news conference with Abe, calling the abductions a “very, very sad thing”.
Stella's Place 
Subject: Travel pool 11/trump and abductee families
At 2:34 pm we were led into another guilder room where Potus and Flotus and PM Abe and Mrs Abe stood in the front row of two rows of a total of 16 family members of abductees and one former abductee. The two leaders delivered short remarks. Highlights:
Trump:”we’ve just heard a very very sad number of stories; and they were abducted by North Korea. we will work with pm Abe to get them back… they were used to learn the language…used for many reasons… it was a tremendous disgrace. … they’ve been through a lot”
Abe: expressed “heartfelt appreciation for the speech you delivers in the UN General Assembly … the entire world paid attention …. I appreciate you specifically refered to this issue … I hope the entire world will know the simple reality of the abduction issue.”
Potus shook hands with some of the families on the way out.
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How sad. I am glad he spent some time with them.
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That was such an effective thing for him to do at this point. He has made his mark as to who he is on the world stage at this point and now, simply showing up at a specified event is a message and has kinetic energy.
Where does a 500-lb canary sit?
Answer: Anywhere it wants to.
Mr. President is a 500-lb canary.
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A couple of bothersome things about Reuters article…excuse my cynicism:
1) “…but said it meant nothing unless it led to action to bring home their loved ones.” Is this editorializing or did the family members actually express themselves in this manner? One generally thinks of Japanese being more polite than this dissing comment.
2) “…Trump met Megumi’s mother Sakie, becoming the third president to do so…” So, which Presidents? The abduction happened in 1977 (40 years ago) during Carter’s Presidency. Did he visit with the family? How about Reagan, GHWBush, Clinton, GWB, Obama? Obviously I could be wrong, but if it had been Obama, Reuters would certainly have highlighted that. I checked around the Net, but couldn’t find out. So, did any other visits happen or is the inadequate reporting just another attempt to diminish President Trump’s gesture.
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Quote from another account:
“It seemed the president listened carefully to all our stories and was impressed,” said Koichiro Iizuka, an infant abandoned in a creche when his mother, Yaeko Taguchi, was abducted in 1978.
“But if this is all that comes of this meeting, it’s absolutely outrageous,” he added. “It’s how we face the previous neglect and take action that’s important.”
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-11-06/families-of-japanese-abducted-by-north-korea-meet-trump-but-want-action
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George W. Bush met her:
https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/04/images/20060428-1_p042806pm-0188jpg-515h.html
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Obama was the third President:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20171012_23/
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And, of course, he was as useful as tits on a boar hog. He cares about no one.
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