Ex-Abductee Urges Tokyo to Show Pyongyang Info on Surviving Victims

June 13, 2018

Niigata- Kaoru Hasuike, a former Japanese abductee who returned from North Korea 16 years ago, urged the government on Tuesday to now confront North Korea with information that it has about abduction victims who are still alive in the autocratic state.

"The situation won't move even if we continue to demand the return of all government-recognized victims and designated missing people," Hasuike, 60, said in a members-only lecture organized in the city of Niigata by the Research Institute of Japan, a Jiji Press affiliate.

"It's the time to show North Korea information that the government has about surviving victims, and draw a certain line about settling the issue," Hasuike claimed.

He added that the government certainly has such information with high credibility.

Hasuike, who currently lives in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, was one of the five abductees who returned home following the September 2002 meeting between then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

At the summit, the late father of current leader Kim Jong Un admitted and apologized for the abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.

However, there are 12 abductees recognized by Tokyo who have not returned home yet. North Korea insists that eight of them have already died and the four others have not even entered the country.

Japan is demanding North Korea repatriate the 12 abductees, including iconic victim Megumi Yokota, and over 800 designated missing Japanese people who may have been abducted by North Korea.

In the lecture, Hasuike said Japan should stick to the principle of no economic aid to North Korea unless the abduction issue is resolved.

But he also said it is the time for Tokyo to negotiate with Pyongyang, following the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit, held in Singapore on Tuesday.

"Abduction victims can come home tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, if North Korea's top leader makes a decision," Hasuike said. Jiji Press