abductees

National Mar 14, 2022

Japanese abductees' families ask U.S. envoy to help resolve issue

Members of the families' group pleaded their case in the roughly one-hour meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

Commentary / Japan Dec 22, 2021

How Japan-North Korea relations changed under Kim Jong Un

by Michael MacArthur Bosack

There has been a widening gap between Japan and North Korea since Kim Jong Un took power and a hardening of policy stances on both sides.

National Nov 14, 2021

Families renew resolve to see abductees returned from North Korea

Some 800 people, including family members of North Korean abductees and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, gathered in Tokyo on Sunday where they called for their immediate return.

Commentary / Japan Nov 1, 2020

Suga needs new tack on the North Korea abductee issue

by Michael MacArthur Bosack

With the abduction issue continuing to inform the Suga administration's North Korea policy, the government must adjust its approach if it hopes for progress.

National Dec 12, 2017

Charles Jenkins, U.S. defector to North Korea and husband of former Japanese abductee Hitomi Soga, dies at 77

by Eric Johnston

Jenkins, who spent nearly 40 years in North Korea as a prisoner, lived in Japan with his family after his release in 2004.

National / Politics Dec 12, 2017

North Korea crisis hurting efforts to locate abducted Japanese nationals, U.N. human rights chief says

The U.N. Security Council on Monday took up the issue of human rights in North Korea, with the body's human rights chief saying the worsening security situation in the region is hurting efforts to bring home Japanese nationals abducted by the reclusive state. "No progress ...

National Nov 15, 2017

Mother of Megumi Yokota lambastes Abe administration over lack of progress on North Korean abductee issue

The parents of a girl who has come to symbolize Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and '80s voiced frustration with the lack of progress on the issue Wednesday — 40 years to the date since their daughter was kidnapped ...

National / Politics Nov 6, 2017

Trump meets abductees' kin and pledges to work with Abe to bring them back to Japan

by Reiji Yoshida

In a half-hour meeting, the U.S. and Japanese leaders lend an ear to the Japanese families who have been waiting for their kidnapped loved ones to return.

National / Politics Sep 22, 2017

Abe and Trump to call on nations to increase pressure on North Korea and strictly enforce U.N. sanctions

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he and U.S. President Donald Trump affirmed Thursday in New York they will work together to call on the international community to strengthen pressure on North Korea, including through the stringent enforcement of U.N. sanctions. In light of the threat ...

National Sep 14, 2017

Former victim alarmed by declining interest in North Korean abductions of Japanese

Hitomi Soga, a former abductee to North Korea, on Wednesday voiced concern about the waning public interest in the issue. "I feel the public is gradually losing interest in the abduction issue," Soga, 58, told a news conference in the Sea of Japan island city ...