The April 23 editorial "Progress in abduction probes" is one of the shallowest editorials I have ever read. The editorial simply tells the The National Police Agency's version of its investigation of the 1973 disappearances of a mother and her two children. The NPA has now concluded that the two children were abducted by North Korean agents.
The editorial does not give any clues whatsoever as to why NPA now after 34 years draws that conclusion, only that "the progress now being made by the police can in part be attributed to cooperation from these former abduction victims." It is strange that the police's progress comes five years after those former abductees returned to Japan.
And the editorial ends: "Both the police and the government must not slacken their efforts to get to the bottom of these despicable crimes. At the same time, Japan should also continue to cooperate with international efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue."
How about seeing things in a broader perspective in your editorial? How about trying to look at things also from the North Korean side and ask what Japan has done to provide information on those Koreans abducted to Japan during World War II? How about asking what the Japanese police and government have done to help those many foreigners whose Japanese spouses have unlawfully abducted their children to Japan?