Fuji TV, the Asahi Shimbun and the Mainichi Shimbun received unanimous disapprobation for their Oct. 25 interview with Kim Hye Gyong, the 15-year-old daughter of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 at the age of 13 and is presumed dead. The three media companies apologized, implying that the lack of discretion they displayed should be blamed on their zeal in trying to "uncover evidence" that the Japanese public demanded.

What "evidence" they hoped to uncover isn't clear, since most of the questions were of a personal nature. Yokota's mother, Sakie, reportedly left the room when she and her husband were shown a tape of the interview prior to its broadcast. She was deeply offended by the questions, which clearly were designed to extract a strong reaction from the teenager. ("Do you know what the word 'abduction' means?") Since the girl shed copious tears, they seem to have succeeded.

Fuji TV must shoulder the bulk of the blame. The network aired the interview as a scoop, a breaking news story, albeit one paid for by commercials and augmented by syrupy, manipulative background music. Anchorperson Yuko Ando repeatedly prompted the Yokotas, who were in the studio, for their reaction. "She looks so intelligent," the seasoned journalist cooed, "I'm sure you can't help but adore her."