(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on March 13)

Abduction Issue: North Korea Urged to Find Solution to Kidnappings

North Korea's kidnapping issue has resurfaced as Kim Hyun-hui, a self-confessed
spy from the communist country, met with the family of an abducted Japanese woman
Wednesday. The emotional meeting was held in the southeastern port of Busan
between Kim and the son of Yaeko Taguchi, who was abducted by North Korean agents
in 1978.
The tearful event came into the spotlight not only in South Korea but also Japan.
Especially, it was Kim's first public appearance since 1991 when she gave details
about the 1987 mid-air bombing of a South Korean jet. Kim reaffirmed her role in
the attack on Korean Air flight 858 that killed all 115 passengers and crew on
board.
What's impressing was that Kim, 47, hugged Taguchi's son, Koichi Iizuka, 32, who
was a baby when his mother was kidnapped at the age of 22 by the North in order
to train its spies. Kim said earlier that she had lived with Taguchi for more
than a year in the early 1980s to learn Japanese language and culture. Despite
North Korea's claim that the abductee died in 1986 in a traffic accident, Kim
told Iizuka, ``I have no doubt your mother is still alive. Be hopeful.''
Imagine how much pain and sorrow the son and other family members of Taguchi have
had to endure since her abduction? It is somewhat comforting for her family to
hear something about her from Kim. We hope Taguchi's family members will find her
if she is still alive somewhere in North Korea. The North needs to check again if
Taguchi is really dead.
It is noteworthy that the Japanese government made concerted efforts to organize
the meeting after Kim told Japan's public broadcaster NHK in January that she
wanted to tell a story about Taguchi to her son. The event will certainly provide
momentum to Japan's efforts to call for the North's sincere action to settle the
problem.
It is regrettable that the abduction issue has been put on the back burner due to
more pressing issues such as the North's nuclear weapons program and the recent
preparations for a long-range missile test under the guise of a satellite launch.
But the Tokyo government has continued to put top priority on the issue, claiming
that 17 Japanese citizens were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and
80s. In 2002, Pyongyang admitted to kidnapping only 13 Japanese and allowed five
of them to return home, saying that the other eight had died.
Former President George W. Bush met with the mother of another Japanese abductee,
Megumi Yokota, at the White House in 2006. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton also had a meeting with families of some of the kidnapping victims in
Japan last month during her first overseas trip to Asia under the Obama
administration.
However, the Seoul government has been reluctant to raise the issue of the 499
South Koreans who were kidnapped after the 1950-53 Korean War. In particular, the
liberal government of former President Roh Moo-hyun turned a deaf ear to mounting
calls from the victims' families for the return of their loved ones. There is no
doubt that South Korea is the biggest victim of the North's kidnapping scheme.
North Korea must admit to the kidnapping of the South Koreans, find their
whereabouts and allow them to return home. The North should no longer delay the
resolution of this issue on the basis of human rights and a humanitarian spirit
to help the victims and their families relieve their untold pains.
sam@yna.co.kr
(END)