Ex - Abductee: Japan Needs Concrete Proposals To Resolve Issue
A former Japanese abductee has urged the government to present concrete proposals on what it would do if North Korea agrees to return the remaining abduction victims.
Hasuike Kaoru spoke to NHK in late March. He was abducted by North Korean agents in 1978 and repatriated in October 2002 with four other abductees.
Referring to North Korea's recent missile launches, he said Pyongyang is in the process of achieving its ultimate goal of holding disarmament talks with the United States on an equal footing as a nuclear power.
He also said the UN Security Council did not impose sanctions like it did when North Korea launched an ICBM-class missile five years ago.
Hasuike called this a major change for North Korea, arguing that the country is taking a step forward by taking advantage of the situation in Ukraine.
He said he does not think Russia's invasion of Ukraine will have a major impact on the abduction issue at this stage.
But he said if the international status of Russia, which backs North Korea, declines and there is a change of government, the North would become isolated.
He added that the world is changing, and if North Korea's position changes, the country may become willing to make progress on the abduction issue.
Hasuike urged Japan's government to work to realize a summit with North Korea, but warned there is almost zero chance that Pyongyang will agree if Japan only says it will hold such a meeting without conditions.
He said the government needs to show North Korea, the international community and the abductees' families what it would do when Pyongyang lets the remaining abductees come home.
Some of the aging family members have died without being reunited with their loved ones.
The leader of the families' group, Iizuka Shigeo, died at the age of 83 last December.
Hasuike said the government should take it seriously that none of the remaining abductees has returned for almost 20 years since he and the four others came back.
He urged the government to answer the group's request for drawing up a road map and strategy as well as setting a deadline for resolving the issue.