Victim Families Conditionally Ease Stance on N. Korea

(5th para should have read “… several …,” instead of as sent) Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea have decided to soften their hardline stance on the authoritarian state on condition that the Japanese government brings all the victims back home. At a joint meeting held in Tokyo on Sunday, the groups of relatives of the abduction victims and their supporters adopted the policy of refraining from opposing Japan providing humanitarian aid to, lifting its unilateral sanctions on, and launching diplomatic normalization talks with North Korea, in pursuit of the full return of the victims. The Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea and the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea also decided not to ask returned abductees to provide information other than the news on other victims. Demanding that the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi propel negotiations with Pyongyang, Takuya Yokota, the 57-year-old younger brother of Megumi Yokota, who was kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977 at age 13, said at a press conference that the groups made a “painful decision.” “Although our grudge toward North Korea is ever growing, we’ve concluded that a dialogue phase already started several years ago,” said the head of the group of the victim families. “I hope a dream I saw last night about my sister returning home comes true.” The joint meeting coincided with the first death anniversary of Akihiro Arimoto, another abductee Keiko Arimoto’s father, who died at 96. “It’s a pity that both of my parents passed away without seeing Keiko again,” said Masako Kitatani, the 69-year-old eldest daughter of the Arimotos. “I’m always thinking how North Korea can be made to send her back.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]