politics

Japan likely to send delegation to N Korea over abductees

6 Comments

The Japanese government is planning to send a delegation to North Korea to obtain information on the fate of Japanese abductees.

Although relatives of Japanese abductees oppose the trip, the government said a fact-finding mission will help speed up Pyongyang's only investigation into the abductions.

North Korea had told Japan that it would give a preliminary report on its investigation last month, but nothing resulted. Instead, the North Korean government said it could only give a preliminary report on the status of its investigation.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said resolving the emotive dispute over the abductees is a top priority for his administration. In 2002, North Korea admitted kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to help train spies. Five abductees and their families later returned to Japan.

North Korea said the remaining eight were dead and that the issue was closed, but Japan pressed for more information about their fate and others that Tokyo believes were also kidnapped.

Japan's National Police Agency says there are more than 800 missing people who may have been abducted.

Tokyo eased some sanctions on North Korea in July in return for Pyongyang's reopening of the investigation and had said it expected an initial report to come out between late summer and early autumn, prompting speculation that there might be some dramatic progress soon.

North Korea says its investigation is proceeding and hopes to wrap it up within a year, although Pyongyang also said the probe was in its initial stage and any explanation would only be preliminary.

© Japan Today/Thompson Reuters

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6 Comments
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Don't do that! You're playing right into their hands... It's about time Japan think about changing their "weaknesses" into strengths. The abductees should be a strength for Japan. Not a weakness. If NK wants anything from Japan, they should be at Japan's doorstep with info. Not the other way around. The same goes with all the other "friendly" neighbors we have.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Typical political/politician response. The abducted are collateral damage and although unfortunate and forgotten, japan need not waste taxpayers money and time better spent inside Japan fixing local and national problems rather than focusing on a few that are too far gone to matter. The sacrifice of a few to save the total group far outweighs their existence. I know I am going to be thrown under the bus on this one but honestly what in the end is more important, a few or the whole group? Maybe wr shoild all commit sepuku for the better good of the society rather than fixing the pronlem

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The LDP is right on cue today. In a political scandal quickly move attention to the abductions. Two cabinet members resign and the LDP quickly moves to the abductions. Just another day in LDP Land with Abe as the organ grinder.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

How many trips does it take to get a report? For Japan dealing with NK would be silence. The best answer to stupidity is silence!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I've been thinking about this problem a lot, and while this is going to sound cold and calculated, I feel that nobody really wants the abtuctee problem to go away. The LDP love it as they can always use it to change the political discussion whenever something bad happens. The adductee families don't want it to end, as they will get the information that their loved ones are gone and never coming back, and they lose their spotlight, that honestly I feel some have come to enjoy. North Korea doesn't want it to end, as any resolution they are the bad guy, and will get punished with more sanctions. What I wonder is, what would happen if North Korea was honest for once, said all the people abducted were dead, provided DNA evidence to prove it. Would the problem be solved? No, Japan would come down on them like a ton of bricks. If the North finds and sends back some people who wee abducted, then what? I'm sure Japan would demand compensation for the pain and suffering. I know many people may think this is a very callous view, and I will get lots of bad rankings, but this is how I feel about the topic.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This has been ongoing problem and issue for a long time. These situations don't get solved quickly. Let the investigations and hopeful negotiations continue with both countries.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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