Home>>World
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, September 18, 2002

DPRK Expresses Regret over Missing Japanese

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) expressed regret over the issue of 11 missing Japanese nationals on Tuesday, and said the DPRK will prevent such things from happening in the future.


PRINT DISCUSSION CHINESE SEND TO FRIEND


The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) expressed regret over the issue of 11 missing Japanese nationals on Tuesday, and said the DPRK will prevent such things from happening in the future.

In a statement released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the DPRK Foreign Ministry said the DPRK Red Cross Society has notified the Japanese side of the whereabouts of 11 Japanese, who had been allegedly abducted.

The statement said that "It is regretful that these issues surfaced in the past as a product of the abnormal relationship between the DPRK and Japan," and that "We will prevent such things from happening in the future."

The statement said facilities would be provided to the survivors identified, and reunions with their families and returns to their hometowns would be arranged if necessary.

Japan claimed that 11 Japanese nationals were abducted by the DPRK in the 1970s and 1980s. This was long denied by the DPRK side.

According to a Japanese foreign ministry spokesman earlier in the day, the DPRK said that four of the 11 are still alive and the rest dead, and that the deaths were caused by illness and calamities.

He added that the DPRK admitted the Japanese were abducted by DPRK special institutions and said those responsible for the abductions had been punished.


Questions?Comments? Click here
    Advanced






Progress in "Missing Japanese" Issue Key to Japan-DPRK Ties: Japanese PM



 


China Since 1990: Facts and Figures Tell of Rising Prosperity ( 19 Messages)

Dozens Could Have Died in Food Poisoning in Nanjing ( 13 Messages)

China Hopes to See Iraqi Issue Resolved Within UN Framework ( 29 Messages)

Survey Discloses Bad Service of Domestic Banks ( 64 Messages)

Scholar Slates Chen Shui-bian Pro-"independence" Speeches ( 10 Messages)



Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved