A man whose mother was abducted to North Korea in 1978 handed a senior Foreign Ministry official a letter Monday addressed to a former North Korean agent who may have learned the Japanese language from the woman.
Koichiro Iizuka's mother, Yaeko Taguchi, was abducted by North Korea at age 22 and, according to Pyongyang, died in the reclusive state. The 27-year-old man visited the ministry in Tokyo and handed the letter to Akitaka Saiki, deputy director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.
The letter is addressed to Kim Hyon Hui, who was convicted in South Korea over the bombing of a jetliner in 1987. Kim and the man she was traveling with were posing as Japanese at the time they planted the bomb. She is believed to have been taught the language by Taguchi.
Saiki told Iizuka he will deliver the letter to Kim, who lives in South Korea, through the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, according to Taguchi's brother, Shigeo Iizuka, 65. Kim was sentenced to die over the bombing and was later pardoned.
In the letter, Koichiro asks to meet with Kim and wants her to tell him about his mother, Shigeo Iizuka said.