Japanese families want abduction on N.Korea agenda
Thu Jul 14, 2005
TOKYO, July 14 (Reuters) - Families of Japanese who were abducted by North Korean agents decades ago urged the government on Thursday to raise the issue at this month's six-country talks on Pyongyang's nuclear arms programme.
The issue has been a major obstacle to normalising ties between Japan and North Korea, and often whips up more emotion among the Japanese public than the threat of Pyongyang's nuclear or missile programmes.
In a meeting with Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, the families also called on the government to demand North Korea to hand over agents who were involved in the kidnappings.
"We cannot tolerate such a crime committed by a nation," Sakie Yokota, mother of one of the abductees, told a news conference after meeting Machimura.
North Korea has admitted abducting 13 Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s to help train its spies.
Five were repatriated along with their children, who were born in North Korea, and Pyongyang says the other eight are dead. Japan has been pressing for better information on the eight and another three who Tokyo says were also kidnapped.
Family members said Machimura told them that the government will continue its efforts..
North Korea said last week that it had agreed to return to six-way talks that include South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States on its nuclear arms programmes in the week of July 25, after a break of more than one year.
While Japan wants to raise the abductions at the multilateral talks, Pyongyang says the matter is closed, and both Beijing and Seoul want it to be dealt with separately.
The United States says the issue needs to be dealt with, but says the nuclear programme is more pressing.
Calls for sanctions against North Korea rose among Japanese politicians and the public after Japan said DNA tests showed that remains handed over by Pyongyang late last year were not those of kidnapped Japanese citizens.
No bilateral talks between Japan and North Korea have been held on the topic since last November.
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