Japan appeals to Uganda on N. Korea

May 31, 2008

Japan has asked Uganda and other African countries with links with North Korea to help secure the release of 12 Japanese abducted. Uganda enjoys good relations with North Korea.

By Felix Osike

Japan has asked Uganda and other African countries with links with North Korea to help secure the release of 12 Japanese abducted. Uganda enjoys good relations with North Korea.

A senior official from Japan’s Prime Minister’s office told selected African journalists at the sidelines of the talks in Yokohama that an appeal had been made to countries with close links with the reclusive state.

Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Public relations Osamu Sakashita said Japan has been following visits by North Korean leaders to Africa. “We have made requests to your countries visited by the Korean leader to persuade them on the issue,” stated Sakashita.

According to Sakashita, a number of Japanese citizens disappeared under mysterious circumstances, many of whom are suspected to be abductions by North Korean agents. Some of them were abducted inside Japan, while others were taken from beaches in Europe.

In April this year, North Korea’s number two, Kim Yong-Nam, visited Uganda and three other African countries, where he signed trade and defence deals.
Uganda supports peaceful efforts to resolve the country’s nuclear crisis and in reuniting the Korean peninsula.

Sakashita said Japan was also concerned about North Korea’s plans to sell conventional weapons to African countries. “If there are agreements with Uganda to buy conventional weapons, it is not a welcome idea. We would want Uganda to tell us the contents of the agreement,” he stated.

Japan identified 17 of its citizens in twelve cases of abduction by North Korea.

Sakashita said North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong II, in 2002 acknowledged that the abductions were committed to enable Japanese language training in special agencies and for agents to obtain false identities to infiltrate South Korea.

In 1987, North Korean agents bombed a South Korean airline destined for Seoul killing all the passengers. The suspect was caught carrying a counterfeit Japanese passport and attempted to pass as a Japanese citizen.
“The abduction of Japanese is unforgivable. We must secure the safety of the abductees,” he remarked.

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