Japanese families demand early solution to abduction issue

December 12, 2017

Tokyo- Family members of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea reiterated on Tuesday their demand for an early solution to the abduction issue.

They were alarmed by the deaths of Nobuko Masumoto, 90, the mother of abductee Rumiko, and Charles Jenkins, 77, the husband of former abductee Hitomi Soga, 58.

"I know how much she (Masumoto) wanted to see her daughter," said Kenichi Ichikawa, 72, whose younger brother, Shuichi, was kidnapped at the age of 23 together with Rumiko, then 24.

"I'm so frustrated," Ichikawa said, adding that he wants the government to make more efforts to resolve the issue so that the tragic fate that Nobuko suffered is not repeated.

"People get older and weaker every year," said Shigeo Iizuka, 79, the elder brother of Yaeko Taguchi, who was abducted at the age of 22.

"Things like this will become common," Iizuka, who leads a group of families of abduction victims, said, referring to the deaths of Nobuko Masumoto and Jenkins.

Iizuka said he wants the government to take the deaths seriously and act quickly to settle the issue.

"Soga must be shocked" over the sudden death of Jenkins, said Tsutomu Nishioka, 61, head of a group supporting abductee families.

"We've been calling for the return of all abduction victims within this year, but now it's already December," Nishioka said. "I'm so frustrated," he said.

In a statement, Kaoru Hasuike, 60, and his wife, Yukiko, 61, both former abductees, offered their condolences over the death of Jenkins.

At a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the Japanese government will put every effort to realize the return of all abductees as early as possible.

It is "extremely regrettable" that the government has failed to bring back any abduction victim from North Korea since Soga returned home in 2002, Suga said.

There is no change in the government's policy of resolving the issue under the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Suga said. Jiji Press