|
The police have determined that North Korea has abducted a total of 19 victims in 13 cases, where the victims are Japanese nationals in 12 cases (17 victims) with the remaining case being the abduction from Japan of two siblings with Korean domiciles.
In one of the cases, two siblings were abducted in Fukui prefecture in mid-June 1974, other cases include a secondary school girl abducted in Niigata prefecture in November 1977, and couples who went missing from July through August of 1978 last seen near the seashores of Fukui, Niigata, and Kagoshima prefectures.
Three Japanese nationals were also abducted in Europe from 1980 to 1983. In addition, there was an attempted abduction case near the seashore in Toyama prefecture in August 1978.
It may be inferred from some cases that the main purposes of these abductions of Japanese nationals are to make them train North Korean agents to act as Japanese or to enable North Korean agents to impersonate them.
The Japanese Police obtained arrest warrants of eleven suspects, including North Korean agents and one YODO-go suspect, placed them on Interpol’s wanted list for abductions and has taken other necessary measures.
At the 3rd Working Level Consultation between Japan-NK in Nov 2004, North Korea handed to the Japanese Delegation "new evidence," including ashes said to be those of victims.
However, as a result of DNA tests, the DNA profiles identified from part of the ashes were found to be different from those of victims.
The Japanese police are continuing their investigation into these cases through exchanging information with the authorities and agencies concerned.
|
