politics

Noda promises families of abductees he'll do all he can to resolve issue

16 Comments

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Saturday met with relatives of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea and promised to do all he could to bring the abductees back to Japan.

He also said he was prepared to visit North Korea at any time if it would result in tangible progress on the issue.

Saturday's meeting was Noda's second with the families since he took office as prime minister last month.

NHK reported that Noda told the families during the hour-long meeting that he has asked other countries to help resolve the issue. He said he raised the matter when he met U.S. President Barack Obama in New York last month.

Shigeo Izuka, spokesman for the abductions victims group, urged the government to impose additional sanctions on North Korea.

North Korea broke off negotiations on the issue three years ago and has said there are no more abductees alive.

Also at the rally were the parents of Megumi Yokota, a prominent abductee who Pyongyang claims committed suicide in 1994, and several other families.

Izuka said the abductees’ kin have grown frustrated with successive Japanese prime ministers over the issue.

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16 Comments
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Thank you Mr. Noda.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Geez! I feel I've heard this promise from other J politicians before??

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The key words here are "he'll do all he can" (read: he can or will do nothing) since Japanese are addicted to cheap clothing (Uni Qlo) and cheap shellfish shipped from NK via China. Boycott these products and these abductees will magically appear somewhere in China...

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

I wish Noda would use his energy for a more promising task withing J-politics. I can't believe that they can get those few people back to Japan. Assuming they still live they probably would be very integrated and brainwashed by the system of NK, and would not be able to easily start a new live withing the Japanese system of live anymore. Anyhow I don't think they still live.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Sorry to say the reality is that there's not a lot he can do.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Here we go again with the resolved issue! How about, "I'll do what I can, but quite frankly denuking NK is the REAL priority"?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Mr. Noda, you're no Koizumi Junichiro.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The abduction issue will be solved only when the Kim Jong Il regime falls and a decent government takes over in N Korea.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Tie to move forward Noda San, while it is sad they are still unaccounted. Am sure with time that their status will be determined.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Serrano: "The abduction issue will be solved only when the Kim Jong Il regime falls and a decent government takes over in N Korea."

Or when they find a way to bring back the dead.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I feel sympathy for the families of the abducted, but quite frankly, the abductions are not even remotely near the top of the PMs list of priorities right now.

Quite honestly, I take issue with a small but vocal group effectively highjacking foreign policy with every incoming PM. These families have seen Noda twice since he entered office last month. How? Why?

And what about the needs of the other 127.6 million Japanese living in this country, particularly those living in the quake-ravaged areas of North-Eastern Japan?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

He will not be PM long enough to do anything let alone get those poor people back.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Anyone who thinks Noda will do anything to bring abductees back to Japan is purely naive.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Agree with LFRAgain: This country has other needs, like those citizens of Miyagi prefecture. The fact that this small group of people can twist foreign policy is appalling. They have valid concerns, but having a pro-Pyongyang school in Tokyo kind of negates anything the PM could do, doesn't it?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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