U.N. human rights chief airs concerns over N. Korean abductions

+

TOKYO, May 13 Kyodo -
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay expressed concern
Thursday over North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals and said she
is willing to press Pyongyang to resolve the issue, Japanese officials said.
Meeting separately with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Foreign Minister
Katsuya Okada, Pillay, a South African native, also requested that Japan boost
its financial aid to the office of the high commissioner, the officials said.
Pillay told reporters after meeting with Hatoyama that North Korea's human
rights violations are ''serious'' issues and that she will address them in the
event of coming into contact with authorities in Pyongyang.
Japan recognizes 17 citizens as having been abducted to North Korea in the
1970s and 1980s. Five of them were repatriated in 2002 but the whereabouts of
the others are disputed with the North.
During their talks, Okada thanked Pillay for her understanding and offer to
cooperate over the abduction issue and promised to study the possibility of
increasing its aid for her office.
Okada also told her that Japan considers the human rights situations in
recipient countries when it offers economic assistance to developing nations.
Visiting Japan for the first time since she assumed her position in September
2008, Pillay is scheduled to meet with families of the abductees on Friday.
==Kyodo
2010-05-13 23:23:01