North Korea Kidnaps Japanese - Background

I don't know if any of my five or six readers are aware of the history of North Korea kidnapping and murdering Japanese nationals, so I am beginning a series on this topic. First some background.

The DPRK during the period 1970's - 1990's as a matter of policy, using military personnel in military operations kidnapped Japanese nationals from beaches of northern Japan and from other countries in Europe. The purpose of these abductions was to provide teachers of Japanese language and culture to DPRK spy trainees. For a good introduction to the history of this issue please read these:

• The Group of Seven Individuals Protest Against North Korean Abduction of Japanese Citizens
• The Ad in the New York Times
• Flash Version of the Ad (it plays slowly but watch the whole thing, it is heart rending)
• THINK: Abduction by North Korea Resource Site
  

From the Introduction page at the THINK site;

Imagine yourself on a date with your lover on a beautiful sandy beach, or walking down the street to your local grocery store. Suddenly you are grabbed, blindfolded, gagged, and stuffed in a bag. You are taken on a small boat and later on a cargo vessel to a land where nobody speaks your language and no one allows you to contact your family for a quarter of a century.

That's what happened to the citizens of Japan. They were abducted by the North Koreans under the order of their leader, Kim Jong Il. And WE WANT THEM BACK.

On September 17, 2002, Chairman Kim Jong Il, after denying the fact for decades, finally admitted to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that North Korea had abducted Japanese nationals. Why did he admit it? Because he wants our food. He wants our money.

5 of them returned on October 5, 2002, after 24 long years. ONLY 5 of them. And the North Korean leader said, without showing any credible evidence, that 8 others had died because of illness and accidents and added that there were no more abduction cases. He is not allowing families of the 5 survivors, including former American soldier Mr. Charles Robert Jenkins [since freed and living in Japan - ed.] of North Carolina, to come and rejoin their loved ones in Japan.

There are many, many more Japanese who believe their family have been abducted by North Korea. Investigative Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea, a citizens group looking into the issue, recently submitted a list of approximately 200 citizens [emphasis mine - ed.] who have disappeared between 1953 to 1997 to the National Police Agency and urged for investigation.

The Japan Times Online reports in a story dated April 20, 2003, Japanese-American museum in LA to help families tell abductees' tale also gives some background.

"My daughter was abducted 25 years ago by North Korea, so we came to the U.S. to let people know about this incident and to ask for their support in resolving the issue quickly," Yokota said at the meeting.

Yokota's daughter, Megumi, went missing in Niigata Prefecture in November 1977, at age 13. According to North Korea, she was abducted by military personnel, married a North Korean man in 1986, gave birth to a daughter the following year and committed suicide in 1993 while being treated for depression. Megumi's daughter remains in North Korea.

The case of Megumi Yokota has been especially sensitive. For details on her case and others read the Stories page of the THINK site. It is compiled in chronological order and presents a series of stories that are true studies in horror.

So the Dear Leader has ordered his men to re-investigate the cases. And his team has handed 7 shipping containers of "evidence" to Japanese government officials on November 15, 2004. But what did the cargo contain? Lies, lies, lies! What the North claimed to be remains of Megumi Yokota turned out to be of complete strangers after a thorough DNA test. The SECOND set of ashes (the first set they sent out in 2002 were also fake) NK returned saying they were of Kaoru Matsuki were of 4 deceased, none of whom were Kaoru .

There are more lies. NK admitted that the last set of death certificates they supplied in 2002 were _made up_ in a hurry since they could not find the originals. The pictures of Megumi in her 20's they handed last month turned out to be composites. The officials let Japanese representatives meet Megumi's "husband" but did not give requested hair samples because a DNA test can prove him being a dummy. Latest testimonies by survivors indicated that: 1) Rumiko Masumoto and Yaeko Taguchi were single after when NK says they each got married, 2) Yaeko was seen alive even after the date of death supplied by NK, 3) Yaeko said she taught Japanese to a NK spy called "Okka" whose name coincides with that of KAL bomber, though NK denies the connection, and more.

How sick is the DPRK and its murdering freak "Dear Leader"? This sick, when 5 Japanese who had been kidnapped were "temporarily" returned to Japan to see their families, their children were held hostage in the DPRK for their return (to their kidnappers). When the abductees decided to remain in Japan the reaction from the DPRK was;

...a spokesman for the North Korean Red Cross complained, "ten days have passed and the five have not returned. Why," they asked, "is Japan breaking faith by violating points to which it already agreed?" He expressed astonishment at such infantile behavior. [that the victims of this crime would not be returned to the criminal - ed.]

This from Recovering a Lost Opportunity, Japan-North Korea Negotiations in the Wake of the Iraqi War by Wada Haruki.

There is too much to get into one post, I will be writing a lot more about this.

The range of horror in the many crimes of the DPRK and its mentally damaged "Dear Leader" murderer-freak is demonstrated in many different ways in many different stories, not the least of which is the depravity shown in the events surrounding the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by the government of North Korea.