Japanese delegation in North Korea to discuss abductee issue

A Japanese government delegation will make a four-day visit to North Korea from Monday to assess Pyongyang’s investigation of the fate of Japanese nationals abducted decades ago. In talks with North Korea’s special investigatory committee Tuesday and Wednesday in Pyongyang, the delegation hopes to obtain information on 12 Japanese officially recognized by Tokyo as abductees and who remain unaccounted for. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called the abduction issue, which has prevented the two countries from normalizing diplomatic relations, his government’s “highest priority.”

I am convinced I am the one who knows the most about how the North acts.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

This is the first Japanese government mission to North Korea since November 2004. Relatives of the abductees have expressed skepticism about the government’s mission to the North, saying it will only be worthwhile if concrete information is obtained. Pyongyang has conducted probes into Japanese abductee victims in the past, but Tokyo has not accepted those results, calling them unconvincing. Abe has urged the North to conduct an “honest and sincere” investigation into abductees this time around.