POLICY MEMORANDUM
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Background
On September 17, 2002, Chairman Kim Jong Il finally, after decades of denial, admitted to the Japanese government that North Korea had abducted 13 Japanese citizens between 1977 and 1983. Kim Jong-Il indicated eight abductees had died due to illness or accidents. By the agreement of the Japan-North Korea summit meeting, five of the abductees were temporarily allowed to leave North Korea for Japan on October 5, 2002. It was the first time these Japanese citizens had returned home in 24 years. However, Kim Jong-Il refused to allow families of the five survivors to join them in Japan.
Moreover, there are many more Japanese who claim to have had family members abducted by North Korea. The Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea, a citizens group investigating the issue, submitted a list of about 200 citizens who disappeared between 1953 and 1997 to the National Police Agency.
Problem
All five abductees who are now in Japan have refused to return to North Korea. The North Korean government has responded to their refusal by insisting that the Japanese government has illegally detained the five people. In response, the Japanese government indicates it will not expedite normalization talks with North Korea until the abduction issue is resolved...