The credibility of public broadcaster NHK is on the line over its handling of political interference by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

With Communications Minister Yoshihide Suga publicly ordering NHK to intensify news coverage of the North Korean abduction issue on international shortwave radio broadcasts, trust in the Japanese public broadcaster's content is likely to slip.

Consider that between January to September 2006, of NHK's 2,000 stories on North Korea, at least 700 were on abductees.