Relatives of a person kidnapped by North Korea 30 years ago criticized the government Sunday for "a lack of enthusiasm" in trying to resolve the abduction issue.
"Japanese and U.S. policies toward North Korea are being pursued in conflict with our stance of calling for sanctions," Shigeo Iizuka, 70, chairman of the Japanese Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, told a gathering in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture.
Iizuka's sister, Yaeko Taguchi, went missing June 29, 1978, at the age of 22. North Korea admitted in 2002 she was one of the Japanese its agents abducted during the 1970s and 1980s.
"We are about to lose crucial leverage over North Korea, but I hope that the government will take a tougher stance in negotiating (with the North) to resolve the issue," Iizuka said.
The gathering in Kawaguchi was held to mark the 30th year after Taguchi's kidnapping and to call for an early resolution of the abduction issue after both the Japanese and U.S. governments have recently softened their positions toward North Korea.
Japan decided to partially lift sanctions against North Korea after Pyongyang agreed to look into the issue again, while the U.S. decided to remove Pyongyang from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Taguchi's son, Koichiro Iizuka, now 31, told the gathering, "I'm distrustful and wondering why the Japanese government isn't asking the United States not to move forward on the delisting."
Japanese and South Korean investigative authorities believe Taguchi, after being taken to the North, became the language tutor to Kim Hyong Hui, the North Korean agent who confessed to blowing up a Korean Air jetliner in 1987.
North Korea has denied Taguchi played such a role and insists Taguchi died in 1986 — a claim that Japan refuses to accept.