Former N. Korean spy to meet family of Japanese abductee in Busan

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, March 9 (Yonhap) -- A former North Korean spy living in South Korea will
this week meet the family of a Japanese woman kidnapped by North Korea in 1978,
the Japanese embassy here said Monday.
The meeting will be held in the South Korean port city of Busan on Wednesday and
is expected to again call international attention to the abduction issue, which
has affected the six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
Kim Hyun-hui was convicted of planting a bomb on a South Korean airliner in 1987
that killed all 115 people on board but was later pardoned. She is supposed to
meet the elder brother and the first son of Yaeko Taguchi for 90 minutes at 11:00
a.m., according to the embassy. The three plan to hold a press conference
immediately after the closed-door gathering.
Pyongyang has admitted to kidnapping Taguchi in 1978, when she was 22, to train
its spies, but said she died in July 1986.
Kim said that Taguchi, whose Korean name was Lee Eun-hye, was her language
instructor. In an interview with Japan's public broadcaster in January, Kim said
she wants to meet Taguchi's son to tell him about her mother.
The South Korean government would not go into detail on the planned meeting in
Busan, saying it has only helped arrange it as Kim is under the protection of the
National Intelligence Service.
"Basically, the meeting is being organized by the Japanese government," a South
Korean foreign ministry official said, asking not to be named. "The government's
position is to provide assistance as much as possible on the abduction issue."
Both South Korean and Japanese officials refused to specify the venue for the
event, citing security concerns, while diplomatic sources said it will be held at
a hotel along the beach.
Taguchi is one of 17 Japanese citizens whom Tokyo says were abducted by North
Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2002, the North acknowledged abducting
only 13 Japanese citizens and allowed five to return home, claiming the others
had died.
Tokyo has demanded that Pyongyang account for all of the abductees, setting it as
a precondition for the normalization of diplomatic ties and the delivery of its
share of energy aid promised under a six-nation deal.
It is unclear whether this week's meeting between Kim and Taguchi's family will
give any clues as to her fate, but observers say it is certain to enhance public
awareness in Japan and internationally on the sensitive issue.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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