Ex-N. Korean spy seeking to visit Japan

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- A former North Korean spy who confessed to a mid-air
bombing of a South Korean jet in 1987 is expected to visit Japan as early as next
month after two decades of reclusive life here, an informed source said Thursday.
Kim Hyun-hui was sentenced to death by a Seoul court in 1990 for planting a time
bomb in a Seoul-bound Korean Air jet in an attack that killed all 115 passengers
and crew on board. She was pardoned a month later, however, and married her
former South Korean bodyguard in 1997. Her personal life has been kept secret, as
she has been under the protection of South Korean intelligence authorities.
She is much sought after by the Japanese, as she may provide a clue to the fate
of Yaeko Taguchi, a Japanese woman abducted by North Korean agents in 1978 to
train 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. North Korea says
Taguchi died in 1986 in a traffic accident, but the Japanese government is
unconvinced and demands proof.
Kim met Taguchi's son and brother in South Korea in March in a much publicized
event.
"Kim is likely to visit Japan in the near future at the invitation of the
Japanese government," the source said, adding it would be her first foreign trip
since being brought to South Korea shortly after the bombing incident.
Kim, 47, needs permission from both the South Korean and Japanese governments to
make the trip. She is currently barred from entering Japanese territory,
blacklisted for forging a Japanese passport she used for the 1987 bombing.
"Kim wants to visit Japan. And the Japanese government also welcomes her trip as
it will help the government's efforts to enhance public interest in the abduction
issue," the source said. "The passport issue can be solved politically and
diplomatically, although it is a legal issue."
In a related move, a team of Japanese foreign ministry officials met Kim in South
Korea earlier this week, according to the source.
South Korean government officials refused to confirm the meeting.
"We are not in a position to confirm it. One thing for sure is that the Japanese
government is taking various actions to gather information on the fate of
abducted Japanese people," an official said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)