Former N. Korean spy Kim to visit Japan on Tuesday+

TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo -
Former North Korean spy Kim Hyon Hui, who was involved in blowing up a Korean
Air jetliner in 1987, will visit Japan for the first time since the incident
from Tuesday for four days, bilateral relations sources said Saturday.
During the visit, Kim, 48, is slated to meet with the parents of Japanese
abductee Megumi Yokota and others, while Japanese police are poised to forgo
questioning her about her alleged use of a fake Japanese passport in the
incident, in consideration of South Korea's wishes.
Justice Minister Keiko Chiba will issue a special permit for her to enter
Japan, as Kim was sentenced to death over the bombing that killed all 115
people on board, and the Japanese immigration law denies entry to foreign
nationals sentenced to one year or more in jail, the sources said.
Japanese police are also expected to keep Kim heavily guarded and her itinerary
secret at the request of the South Korean government, due to concerns
surrounding terrorist attacks by North Korea, they said.
Kim reportedly confessed to Japanese government officials in May last year in
South Korea that she had met with Yokota -- one of the Japanese who Tokyo says
remain unaccounted for after being abducted to North Korea -- during a training
prior to the bombing.
Yokota was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 at age 13 on her way home
from school. Pyongyang said she died in North Korea, but her family does not
believe the claim.
After being apprehended in Bahrain, Kim was sent to South Korea and was
sentenced to death in 1989 for her role in the airliner bombing, but was freed
later under a presidential pardon.
She allegedly used a forged Japanese passport, and the statue of limitation for
charging her over the case has yet to expire.
==Kyodo
2010-07-17 20:03:54


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