OSAKA — Overseas reaction to Kim Hyon Hui's four-day visit to Japan to discuss the abduction of Japanese nationals to North Korea ranged from puzzlement to surprise as to the government's motives, since she had already been questioned on what she knew.
Japan not only allowed into the country a former North Korean saboteur who killed 115 people by planting a bomb on a South Korean jetliner, but also gave her VIP treatment.
In the United States, the strongest words of criticism came from those whose offspring have been "abducted" by their Japanese spouses to Japan. Members of a group lobbying the U.S. government over the issue called the Justice Ministry's decision to grant Kim a special permit to visit Japan something straight out of a fairy tale.