The countries’ ambassadors to the United Nations on Thursday called on North Korea to release people it has kidnapped over the past 50 years.
The Pyongyang regime has kidnapped hundreds or thousands of people over the past five decades in countries like Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, or Thailand. These kidnappings serve the country’s propaganda media, espionage strategies or even the reinforcement of the North Korean population.
The best known case is perhaps that of Megumi Yokota, who disappeared in 1977 when she was only 13 years old. Her father died without seeing her again and her younger brother is a member of the Japanese association.
kidnapped by Korea.
At the conference, she said that her sister was violently torn from the family and taken hostage like so many others, and she believes that even today they are still silently crying out for help.
Taku Ia explained that 46 years ago the heart of the family was torn out and remains in pieces and called on the international community to take action. Kim Jong Un asked him to release the abductees, telling him that the families do not want information about the country. They just want to live normally.
The same appeal was made by the US ambassador to the UN.
“We call on Pyongyang to bring peace to these families and allow all the victims to return home,” Linda Thomas Greenfield said.
That is what Koichiro Izuka has been searching for all his life. He was 1 year old when his mother disappeared in Tokyo. Yaeko was 22 years old and was on her way to work after dropping her children off at daycare. For 25 years no one knew anything about her until, in 2002, at a summit between Japan and North Korea, her kidnapping was admitted.
Without any proof, Pyongyang announced that Yaeko had died. The family never believed and continues to hope that she is alive. Koichiro Izuka appealed to Kim Jong Un to change the policy followed by his father and his grandfather because there is no time to lose.
The Australian ambassador to the UN also highlighted the urgency of the situation, as there are relatives dying without the situation being resolved.
“We urge North Korea to change course and not go back to those days,” Mitch Fifield appealed.
The only testimony from a relative outside of Japan was that of Bangong Pardoi, Anocha’s nephew. In 1978, at the age of 23, he disappeared in Macao, where he worked. It wasn’t until 2005 that the family learned that she had been kidnapped, when Pyongyang released a former US soldier who lived near her. Today the family does not know if she is alive or dead.
The South Korean ambassador to the United Nations, who also participated in the conference, recalled that the country was the most affected by the kidnapping program and explained that unfortunately there was almost no progress on the issue of kidnappings.
Joonkook Hwang recalled the tragedy that this situation represents: “The large number of victims, as well as deaths, pain and suffering is a tremendous humanitarian tragedy.”
That is why next year the Seoul Security Council will insist that the international community be more active.
You probably don’t know how many citizens have been kidnapped over the years. From South Korea there will be almost four thousand. Most managed to return home, but around 500 are still missing.
As for Japan, Pyongyang admitted to kidnapping 17 people. Tokyo speaks in hundreds. Only five managed to return.
Source: TSF
