Folk singer dedicates song to abductee Megumi Yokota

American singer Noel Paul Stookey, a member of the legendary folk-singing group Peter, Paul & Mary, has produced a song dedicated to abductee Megumi Yokota and its Japan release date is set for Feb. 21.

The 69-year-old Stookey said he was inspired to produce "Song For Megumi" after last year seeing the documentary film "Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story," which captured the struggles of Yokota's parents in trying to retrieve their daughter, who was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 at age 13.

Stookey will arrive in Japan to promote the song's release on Saturday, and he will invite Yokota's father Shigeru, 74, and mother Sakie, 71, to a concert during his stay. The profits gained through CD sales will be donated to the Yokotas for their activities, according to concert organizers.

The song, sung by Stookey himself, focuses on the sadness the couple feels for having their daughter taken away and their efforts to try to get her back, and some phrases are sung in Japanese.

At a gathering Monday in Tokyo held in protest to potential aid to North Korea as prescribed by the six-party talks, Shigeru and Sakie Yokota wept as "Song For Megumi" was played.

Stookey said he hopes the song will help the couple gain strength and raise the public's interest in efforts to rescue Yokota, and expressed his gratitude for being able to release a message to the world that the abduction issue must be resolved.

His concerts to help support the Yokotas' rescue efforts will also be held in May in Tokyo.

The documentary film on Yokota, directed and produced by Chris Sheridan and his wife Patty Kim, both Canadian, has won numerous awards in film festivals.

In September 2002, North Korea admitted to abducting 13 Japanese, including Yokota, but said that eight of the abductees were dead and that Yokota had killed herself, an assertion disputed by Japan. Yokota's parents believe she is still alive in North Korea.