Why is Abe risking Japanese backlash over ‘Pyongyang Olympics’ visit?

Premier’s attendance at Winter Olympics opening ceremony may be intended as a show of support to the US – but some will see it as legitimising South Korean efforts to cosy up to Kim Jong-un’s regime

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Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 12:30pm, 10 Feb 2018Updated: 12:41pm, 10 Feb 2018

Publicly, relatives of the dozens of Japanese nationals who have been abducted by North Korea are saying nothing about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to travel to South Korea to attend Friday’s opening ceremony for the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

Privately, many are seething at a trip that does nothing to advance their efforts to force Pyongyang to release their loved ones and, instead, they believe serves to effectively legitimise South Korean efforts to cosy up to Kim Jong-un’s regime.

Some South Koreans have labelled the Games the ‘Pyongyang Olympics’ in protest against the North’s involvement, which will include fielding a joint North-South Korean women’s ice hockey team.

WATCH: North Korean delegation arrives in Seoul

If the pressure on Pyongyang is eased off even slightly, the families reason, Kim is less likely to grant their demands for their relatives’ freedom.

‘Pyongyang Olympics’: How North Korea stole the Winter Games

“South Korean President Moon Jae-in is pro-Pyongyang and he has used the Winter Olympics to protect North Korea from the pressure that was being applied by Japan and the US,” said Kazuhiro Araki, who heads the Unidentified Persons Investigation Committee at NARKN, the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea.

“For Abe to visit South Korea, we believe sends the wrong message to both North and South Korea and the rest of the world,” he said.

Japanese schoolchildren send off their national team for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Photo: Reuters

Yet he is reluctant to be more critical of the Japanese leader – as were other groups representing the abductees’ families – for various reasons.

In concert with other organisations, NARKN submitted a request to the International Criminal Court in The Hague on January 24 requesting a new investigation into the abduction of as many as 470 Japanese nationals by the North between the 1960s and the 1980s, and there is concern that criticism of actions seen by many as helping to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula might be detrimental to their case.