Manga Published in Japan amid Little Progress over N. Korea Abductions

Tokyo, June 5 (Jiji Press)–A manga mixing fiction with facts and actual tactics used by North Korea to kidnap Japanese nationals has been published in Japan, in order to draw attention to the abduction issue, which has seen little progress for more than 20 years. “It was difficult to create a manga based on the (decades-old) abduction issue, which does not yet have an ending,” manga artist Akiko Tomita said at an event held in Musashino, Tokyo, on April 10 to celebrate the publishing of “Ore Antif@ Rachi Ge no Kyosei Event kara Nigeraremasen.” The manga with more than 400 pages was completed without Tomita being paid for the work. Adding a unique twist, the manga is about a Japanese man becoming a North Korean operative to kidnap other Japanese nationals. The work incorporates several abduction cases that actually happened. Sprinkling a bit of fiction for a dramatic effect, the manga depicts the case of Yutaka Kume, who was kidnapped by a North Korean agent from the coast of Ushitsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, in September 1977 at the age of 52 as one of the real incidents. It features actual events surrounding the incident, including a worker at a local inn who became suspicious of the situation, police arresting the agent’s collaborator who was a Korean resident in Japan and the collaborator confessing the abduction of Kume. The comic also elaborates on North Korea’s tactics, including having the Korean in Japan cooperate in the kidnapping by threatening the safety of a relative of the person. The protagonist of the manga is a Japanese man in the modern day who is reincarnated as a North Korean agent, with abductions being his mission in a game. “I intended to cause a stir (on the internet),” Tomita said. “I made a conscious decision to make the story unscrupulous and sickening, in order to catch people’s attention,” she said. Tomita said that the work has not been under fire, likely due to it being based on actual events. Describing the abductions as “the most heinous” incidents, the manga artist expressed concerns that the issue is falling into obscurity. “I don’t mind if people get rid of the manga after they read it,” she said. “I’d like people who are not interested (in the issue) to read it.” In October 2002, five abduction victims returned to Japan from North Korea following a historic summit between then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang in September that year. But no Japanese abductees have returned home since then due to stalemated negotiations between the two countries. Kazuhiro Araki, head of the Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea, or COMJAN, which provides support for those who may have been abducted to the reclusive nation, enlisted the help of Tomita and others concerned after being connected through social media. Expressing surprise at how much research was put into completing the manga, Araki said, “The depiction of abduction is convincing.” COMJAN is working on spreading word on the abduction isue through YouTube and short films. As part of such efforts, the group had approached a publishing firm. The company released the manga, which had previously been available only online, in paper form in February. “We’ll use any means to break the (current) impasse (over the issue),” Araki said. “I hope the manga will pique someone’s interest (in the matter).” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]