Japan ‘kept lid on information’ about two 1970s abductees living in North Korea
- Pyongyang said in 2014 that the men, thought to have been kidnapped, had married and had children, and had no intention of returning
- PM Shinzo Abe reportedly signed off on senior official’s decision not to release information over fear of negative public reaction
Japan’s government got word in 2014 that two men who disappeared in the late 1970s were alive in North Korea, but a senior official decided not to release the information due to fears that the public would react negatively, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed off on the decision to put a lid on news that Minoru Tanaka, who the government officially lists as abducted by North Korean agents, and Tatsumitsu Kaneda, who is suspected of having also been taken, are living in Pyongyang.
North Korea had told Japan that both men were married and fathered children since arriving in the country and that they had no intention of returning.
The senior official decided that this was incompatible with Japan’s demand for North Korea to return all abductees and that it would elicit a negative response from the Japanese public.
Kyodo News reached out to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who is in charge of Japan’s efforts to resolve the abduction issue, for comment, but he declined, saying doing so could hinder the undertaking going forward.
Resolving past abductions by North Korea is one of the Abe administration’s “top priorities”, but efforts to secure the return of the victims have reached a standstill in recent years.