The son of a Japanese woman abducted by North Korea in the 1970s was among the group of nine defectors recently sent from Laos back to the reclusive country, a South Korean newspaper reported Thursday.
Quoting diplomatic sources, the Donga Ilbo said the nine men and women were captured in Laos, where they arrived via China, and sent back to North Korea. One was reported as the son of Kyoko Matsumoto, who disappeared at age 29 and whom Tokyo officially designated as an abductee of North Korea.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference Thursday that the government was trying to verify the report with the cooperation of the other nations involved.