Tokyo, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)–Shiro Akagi, 78, a member of the group that hijacked Japan Airlines’ “Yodo” jet in 1970, is seen to have died in North Korea, where he was living, his supporters have said. Japanese police are believed to have obtained the information and are working to confirm the fact. Internationally wanted, Akagi was living in a suburb of Pyongyang with a total of five people, including other members of the hijacker group, such as Kimihiro Uomoto, 78, and the wife of Takamaro Tamiya, a late former executive of the Japanese Red Army. Akagi had been repeatedly hospitalized due to his chronic illness. He died of heart failure at a hospital in Pyongyang on Saturday, according to the supporters, who obtained the information from related people in North Korea. In the March 1970 incident, Tamiya, Akagi and seven others, armed with weapons including Japanese swords, hijacked the JAL jet carrying a total of 129 passengers and crew members, which was bound for Fukuoka Airport in southwestern Japan from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. After releasing passengers and crew members at Fukuoka Airport and Gimpo International Airport in the South Korean capital of Seoul, the hijackers flew to North Korea aboard the Yodo jet. Japanese police have put the suspects on an international wanted list for charges including abduction through transportation out of the country. Only three of them–Uomoto, Takahiro Konishi, 82, and Moriaki Wakabayashi, 79–are seen still staying in North Korea. Two of the other five, including Tamiya, died from illness in North Korea, while two, including Yoshimi Tanaka, died after serving prison terms following their arrests. The remaining suspect, Takeshi Okamoto, is rumored to have died in North Korea. But the police are keep him on the wanted list. Meanwhile, three, including Uomoto and the wife of Tamiya, are internationally wanted for alleged kidnapping for the purpose of marriage over the disappearances of two Japanese citizens–Keiko Arimoto and Toru Ishioka, who were 23 and 22, respectively, when they went missing. Arimoto and Ishioka are on the Japanese government’s official list of people abducted to North Korea. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
