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| Relatives and supporters of Japanese nationals allegedly abducted by North Korean agents cry "Return our family members!" at a Foreign Ministry building. |
Relatives and supporters of Japanese allegedly abducted by North Korean agents staged a demonstration Tuesday at a Foreign Ministry building where the two countries were discussing the establishment of diplomatic ties.
"Return our family members!" chanted some 10 protesters as a limousine carrying North Korean delegates arrived at Iikura House in Tokyo's Minato Ward for the second round of normalization talks with Japanese officials.
The demonstrators waited at the house's entrance with a banner saying, "Do not shelve the abduction issue."
The alleged abduction of at least 10 Japanese nationals by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s, and North Korea's claim for compensation for Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula are the two most contentious issues at the talks.
Among the demonstrators was Sakie Yokota, the 64-year-old mother of Megumi Yokota, who went missing from Niigata city in 1977 at the age of 13.
"I have never spent a single day without thinking about my daughter (since she went missing). They should inform me if she's safe, at least," Yokota said.
A defector from North Korea said in lectures in Japan in 1998 that he had seen several kidnapped Japanese nationals, including Megumi Yokota, instructing North Korean agents at spy training schools in the country.
While North Korea contends that they never abducted Japanese nationals, recent reports say the country proposed discussing the issue in talks between the two countries' Red Cross representatives held in parallel with normalization negotiations.
On Thursday, North Korean and Japanese officials will hold separate news conferences in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, to wrap up the talks. No negotiations are scheduled for today.