Messages posted on Twitter by a group of Japanese who defected to North Korea after hijacking a Japan Airlines jetliner to Pyongyang in 1970, and by their wives, have attracted more than 4,000 followers — and mostly harsh reactions — since starting last October.

"I would like to talk about history, such as Japan-North Korea relations from the viewpoint of a person who has stayed in North Korea for more than 40 years. Of course, also about the abduction issue" pertaining to Japanese kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, tweeted Kimihiro Uomoto, 66, who is on the international wanted list over an abduction case as well as the hijacking.

Four out of the nine members of the radical Red Army Faction who hijacked the JAL domestic flight and diverted it to North Korea still live in the reclusive state, along with two of the eight Japanese wives who joined them later.