Posted on 05/22/2004 1:38:12 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
N.Korea to Let Japan Abductee Relatives Leave
By George Nishiyama
PYONGYANG (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has agreed to let all eight relatives of Japanese abducted by Pyongyang decades ago leave for Japan, media said, and a Japanese official said five would be reunited with their parents in Tokyo Saturday.
The agreement on the emotional issue of the divided families came after a 90-minute summit between Kim and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that was also expected to touch on North Korea (news - web sites)'s nuclear arms program.
"You can take them today or later," Kyodo news agency quoted Kim as telling Koizumi at the talks.
Public broadcaster NHK said the two sides would keep discussing the future of former U.S. army sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins, who is married to former abductee Hitomi Soga, and the couple's two daughters. The United States says Jenkins, 64, deserted 40 years ago and he could face court martial if he came to Japan.
Japanese media said Jenkins and his two children could be reunited with Soga in a country other than Japan, possibly China.
Expectations have been running high in Japan that Kim would let Koizumi bring to Tokyo the relatives of the five abductees who returned home in 2002 after a quarter century in North Korea.
The abductees, gathered in Tokyo to wait for news, were ordinary young adults when they were snatched from their home towns a quarter century ago and taken to North Korea to help train spies.
Koizumi was due to hold a news conference before leaving North Korea.
NUCLEAR PROGRESS?
A breakthrough in the talks could set the stage for Japan to provide humanitarian aid to North Korea's struggling economy and clear the way to resume talks on establishing diplomatic ties -- a prerequisite for Pyongyang to receive substantial economic aid.
"I hope my visit will serve as a major opportunity to turn the hostile relations between Japan and North Korea into friendly relations," Koizumi said before leaving on his one-day trip.
Success in Pyongyang would also give Koizumi's popularity a boost ahead of a July election for parliament's Upper House.
Kim stunned the world at his first meeting with Koizumi in 2002 when he admitted to the kidnapping of 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s. North Korea said eight of those were dead.
Japan says North Korea has kidnapped at least 15 Japanese and wants a convincing account of the fate of the other 10, including Megumi Yokota, who was 13 when she was abducted in 1977.
Koizumi earlier met Jenkins in Pyongyang Saturday, apparently to urge him to come to Japan, Kyodo news agency said.
"Whatever happens, the four of us are a family and I believe in him and will help him and we will live together," Soga, whose two daughters are also in Pyongyang, said in Tokyo.
In a declaration signed by Koizumi and Kim at their last meeting, Kim pledged to uphold international treaties on nuclear issues and to extend a moratorium on ballistic missile launches.
North Korea shocked Japan in 1998 when it launched a test missile over Japan's main island and it is believed to have about 100 Rodong missiles that could hit Japanese cities.
Japan offered in the declaration to provide full-scale aid to the impoverished country once diplomatic ties were established.
Talks on establishing ties foundered after North Korea failed to clear up Japan's doubts over the fate of the remaining abductees and fresh concerns arose about its nuclear ambitions.
Talks in Beijing this month on North Korea's nuclear program failed to narrow gaps between the two main protagonists, the United States and North Korea. The other participants were South Korea (news - web sites), Japan, China and Russia.
Ping!
By the way, whatever happened to that famous South Korean actress who was kidnapped by agents of the DPRK and brought to Pyongyang to perform for "our dear leader?"
I remember reading a story about her in The New York Times awhile back, but they never followed up on her story.
She eventually escaped back to the West, finally returning to S. Korea later.
Is this the first time the little freak has been seen in public since the train explosions?
That is correct.
The NKs' are such humantarians.
SledgeCS
The "dough boy" is barely 5 feet tall. To be his personal aide, one of the requirements could be a short stature, as you pointed out, say, less than 5' 4".
I am sure Kim Jong-il thinks he is.:)
I have just done to Kim something that is an executable offense in North Korea.
Thank god for freedom.
Hitomi Soga, center, who returned to Japan in October 2002 after being abducted by North Korean agents decades ago, expresses her disappointment at a news conference in Tokyo on Saturday after learning that her husband and two children would not be joining the five children of other former abductees coming to Japan on Saturday night to be reunited with their parents.
Unlike the liberal press in Japan, I doubt that most Japanese are unhappy with Koizumi's efforts, which to me appear to be patient and measured.
Believe me, if he were running for office in this country, he'd be elected in a heartbeat.
Koizumi's strength, resolve, and the support he and his party have gotten from the Japanese people send a message of hope to the world.
Time will tell, but I predict that we will come to see Japan as a partner equal to England or Australia in the emerging world order.
It's high time that the Japanese public unfettered itself and started to play its rightful role in this world.
It would also be nice if the United States would get its act together and realize that the "Land of the Rising Sun" could be an invaluable military asset if we would just unshackle the chains.
I suggest some sort of rally and/or letter campaign directed at the Japanese embassy.
suddenly, they all dont look quite so short....
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