U.S. senator sympathetic to abductees, but says issue not priority

Friday 01st May, 02:17 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

14 Comments

USNinJapan2 at 08:37 AM JST - 1st May

Finally someone says it in plain language...
soldave at 09:06 AM JST - 1st May

Senator in making sense shocker!
bdiego at 09:32 AM JST - 1st May

Thank you. Now we just need China, Russia, and South Korea to drop the hint again. Repeat and rinse until everybody gets the picture.
timorborder at 09:39 AM JST - 1st May

Thanks for that. The Japanese government respects your opinion. Hopefully the US will also respect Japan's opinion if at some time in the future it decides to be less than forthcoming vis-a-vis funding of various projects around the world.

Each to their own baby.
OssanAmerica at 09:43 AM JST - 1st May

Duh. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to say that de-nuking the wackjobs in the north is more important than the abductee issue. However, as the Senator said, we fully support and are ready to cooperate with Japan on this issue.
Suzu1 at 10:22 AM JST - 1st May

Webb is hardly a "senior" Senator. He is in his first term.
muniqui19 at 11:27 AM JST - 1st May

so was Obama. Look at what a 1st term Senator can accomplish.
some14some at 01:06 PM JST - 1st May

However, as the Senator said, we fully support and are ready to cooperate with Japan on this issue

Senator is very polite and well versed with diplomatic language. In normal words it translates to: 'this is not an issue.'
Ultradude at 01:47 PM JST - 1st May

Why did Japan wait so long to make it an issue - too late. Not to mention that the Koreans can pull the trump card - "Sorry, how many people did you grab from the peninsula before WW2"? These people's stories are absolutely tragic but on a geo-political level, pebbles in the sand.
Ultradude at 01:48 PM JST - 1st May

I should also mention the Jim Webb is the real deal.
TheHamburgler at 01:56 PM JST - 1st May

'These people's stories are absolutely tragic but on a geo-political level, pebbles in the sand.'

Couldn't have said it better myself. Good for Sen. Webb. Someone needs to say it. Japan & the world have far more pressing problems on their hands than the 20+ year old issue of a few abuctees.
Badge213 at 02:21 PM JST - 1st May

Webb is hardly a "senior" Senator. He is in his first term.

In the American Political system, the title of "Senior Senator" is the Senator of a state who has been the Senator the longest for their state. As Webb has been serving as Senator longer then Senator Warner (the Junior Senator) from Virginia, Webb, is the "Senior Senator" from Virginia.

And frankly, he makes sense. I'm sympathetic to the kidnapping issue myself, I've met Megumi Yokota's mother before, but if I have to worry about some Kita Choushin Nuke falling on my head, that's going to take priority.
CZAR202030 at 08:08 PM JST - 1st May

Does the Japanese government knows what is shame?Even your closest ally wants you to leave them alone....By the way did Bush has done something tough over North Korea?Please remind me if he did.
smithinjapan at 12:21 AM JST - 2nd May

Ossan: "Duh. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to say that de-nuking the wackjobs in the north is more important than the abductee issue."

I agree with you, but unfortunately, to a lot of Japanese, the issue IS more complex than rocket science, and the abduction issue takes priority over potentially being nuked. What the senator was saying, quite clearly, is that one is an issue that concerns the US, the other is not, and the non-important one will receive nothing but warm words of comfort, while the former will take the stage in terms of looking for resolution.

I feel sorry for the families of the abductees, and I hope they can bear the weight hearing the true words of this man must have thrust on them. I hope the issue can be addressed, and other governments actually take steps to help resolve it, at a future date in talks separate from the nuclear issue.