病床で記した「八重子」の名　飯塚繁雄さん死去、遺族ら会見

　北朝鮮による拉致被害者田口八重子さん＝拉致当時（２２）＝の兄で家族会前代表の飯塚繁雄さん死去を受け、田口さんの長男飯塚耕一郎さん（４４）や、後任の横田拓也代表（５３）らが２５日、東京都内で記者会見した。繁雄さんは病に倒れた後、八重子さんの名前を紙に記し、気掛かりな様子を見せていたという。
　繁雄さんに息子として育てられた耕一郎さんは、「無念だったと思う。被害者と会えないまま亡くなる家族がこれ以上増えることは許容できない」と憤り、一刻も早い救出を訴えた。（2021/12/25-19:10）

Relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago expressed grief over the death of Shigeo Iizuka, former leader of a group representing them, at a press conference Saturday.
   Koichiro Iizuka, 44, the eldest son of Yaeko Taguchi, Shigeo's younger sister, who was kidnapped in 1978 at the age of 22, and Takuya Yokota, 53, who succeeded Shigeo as the group's leader, attended the press conference in Tokyo.
   "We cannot allow any more relatives of abductees to die without seeing the victims," Yokota, a younger brother of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted in 1977 at age 13, said, calling for a swift return of the abduction victims.
   According to Koichiro, Shigeo was rushed to a hospital after falling ill on Nov. 18, and died on Dec. 18, a week after he resigned as head of the group of families of abductees, due to interstitial pneumonia and vasculitis. Koichiro said that Shiego's favorite drinks and food, as well as a notebook documenting the activities of the group were placed in his casket.
   Shigeo wrote his concerns down on paper during his hospitalization, according to Koichiro. In a column for the family group, he wrote "Yaeko" along with the name of his successor, Yokota.