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Saturday May 27, 6:49 PM3RD LD: Kin of Japanese, S. Korean abduction victims pledge cooperation(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING MORE INFO, BACKGROUND)The relatives of Japanese and South Korean victims of abduction by North Korea on Saturday reaffirmed their pledge to cooperate with each other in efforts to rescue their missing kin from the North. In a public meeting in Tokyo, the South Korean participants explained the situation involving the abduction issue in their country and criticized what they see as their government's lack of concern over the matter. Choi U Yong, who leads a South Korean group of abductees' families, told the gathering that she thinks Japanese people have more concern over the South Korean abduction issue than South Korean people. "It has been six years since I established this group, but my country has not been able to bring back even one victim," said the 35-year-old Choi, whose father was abducted to North Korea at sea. "I had been hoping for a group dedicated to supporting us families to be formed in our country like in Japan, but we still do not have one," she said. Among the 16 people the Japanese government recognizes as victims of abduction by North Korea, five were repatriated in 2002. Pyongyang claims eight others died and it has no record of the remaining three having entered its territory. Lee Mi Il, who heads a similar group called the Korean War Abductees Family Union, said South Koreans' interest in the issue appears to be increasing thanks to enhanced cooperation between Japanese and South Korean relatives. But Lee, 57, whose father was abducted during the 1950-1953 Korean War, said the South Korean government has only recognized victims who were abducted following the war and treated the kin of those taken in wartime as if they were the "families of spies." Shigeru Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted from Japan to North Korea in 1977 at age 13, said he appreciates the opportunity to meet with the South Korean families again as the group of Japanese abductees' families he heads has long been promoting cooperation with them. The Japanese relatives' group and a nationwide organization supporting the families of abduction victims jointly organized Saturday's event. Yokota, 73, visited Seoul in mid-May as part of efforts to cooperate with South Korean families and to meet the family of Kim Young Nam, a South Korean man believed to be Megumi's husband. Earlier Saturday, the South Korean participants in the Tokyo gathering were welcomed by Yokota, his wife Sakie, 70, and other Japanese kin as they arrived at Haneda airport in Tokyo from Seoul along with two lawmakers of South Korea's main opposition Grand National Party. The visitors are scheduled to attend a large gathering scheduled at the Hibiya Kokaido Public Hall in central Tokyo on Sunday, also organized by Yokota's group and supporters. On Monday, the South Koreans will pay a call on Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Aso, along with Choi Gye Wol, the mother of Kim Young Nam, to ask for the Japanese government's cooperation in seeking the return of their families from North Korea. Choi Gye Wol, 78, scheduled to arrive in Japan on Sunday together with Choi Song Yong, head of another group of families of South Korean abductees, will not attend Sunday's public gathering. Both the Japanese and South Korean governments confirmed through DNA analyses that Kim Young Nam, believed to have been abducted by North Korea, is highly likely to be the father of Megumi's daughter Kim Hye Gyong. North Korea, which has admitted to abducting Megumi and 12 other Japanese nationals, says she killed herself in 1994 while being treated for depression. But her family believes she is still alive in North Korea. Kim Young Nam is said to be among five South Korean men whom North Korea abducted in 1977 and 1978 when they were between the ages of 16 and 18. North Korea says Megumi married a man named Kim Chol Jun in 1986 and gave birth to Kim Hye Gyong in 1987. Japanese government officials met with a man presented to them as Kim Chol Jun in November 2004, when they visited Pyongyang for bilateral talks on the abduction issue. |
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