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CNN Live At Daybreak
Aftermath of Japanese Abductions
Aired September 18, 2002 - 06:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: During a groundbreaking visit to North Korea by Japan's prime minister, an unexpected admission from North Korea's leader says the country's intelligence agents abducted Japanese citizens to work in a spy training program in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, yesterday, six of them were confirmed dead.
CNN's Tokyo bureau chief, Rebecca MacKinnon, has more now on how the Japanese public is responding to these revelations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN TOKYO BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The tragic fate of Megumi Yokota, a parent's nightmare, snatched at age 13 by North Korean agents, along with at least 10 other Japanese, in the 1970s and '80s.
Her parents now know they'll never see her again, and remain stunned after learning on Tuesday that Megumi left behind a daughter, now living in Pyongyang.
SHIGERU YOKOTA, MEGUMI'S FATHER (through translator): My daughter should only be 37 years old, and the oldest person abducted should still be under 50. I think they were probably killed.
MACKINNON: In Pyongyang on Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi told North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il, Japan needs more explanations.
According to a transcript from their talks, Kim gave "Two reasons for the abductions." "One," he said, "was to promote the learning of Japanese within the agency. The other was to use the identities of others." In order words, to help agents enter South Korea under false Japanese identities.
For the Japanese public, the fate of their fellow countrymen has overshadowed all other good news about North Korea's freeze on missile testing or acceptance of nuclear inspectors. The nation gripped by images of the grief-stricken families and the idea that these people could have been anybody.
This woman says, if she were one of them, she would never forgive North Korea or the Japanese government.
This man says, he hopes better relations will prevent further such tragedies. Still, news about the abductions has made him distrustful of North Korea's regime. (on camera): Authorities say Japanese foreign ministry officials did meet with the four surviving abductees in Pyongyang. They would like to come home and are expected to do so before Japan and North Korea start up normalization talks. But their stories, and the stories of those who didn't make it, are expected to haunt Japan's relations with North Korea for many years to come.
Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired September 18, 2002 - 06:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: During a groundbreaking visit to North Korea by Japan's prime minister, an unexpected admission from North Korea's leader says the country's intelligence agents abducted Japanese citizens to work in a spy training program in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, yesterday, six of them were confirmed dead.
CNN's Tokyo bureau chief, Rebecca MacKinnon, has more now on how the Japanese public is responding to these revelations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN TOKYO BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The tragic fate of Megumi Yokota, a parent's nightmare, snatched at age 13 by North Korean agents, along with at least 10 other Japanese, in the 1970s and '80s.
Her parents now know they'll never see her again, and remain stunned after learning on Tuesday that Megumi left behind a daughter, now living in Pyongyang.
SHIGERU YOKOTA, MEGUMI'S FATHER (through translator): My daughter should only be 37 years old, and the oldest person abducted should still be under 50. I think they were probably killed.
MACKINNON: In Pyongyang on Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi told North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il, Japan needs more explanations.
According to a transcript from their talks, Kim gave "Two reasons for the abductions." "One," he said, "was to promote the learning of Japanese within the agency. The other was to use the identities of others." In order words, to help agents enter South Korea under false Japanese identities.
For the Japanese public, the fate of their fellow countrymen has overshadowed all other good news about North Korea's freeze on missile testing or acceptance of nuclear inspectors. The nation gripped by images of the grief-stricken families and the idea that these people could have been anybody.
This woman says, if she were one of them, she would never forgive North Korea or the Japanese government.
This man says, he hopes better relations will prevent further such tragedies. Still, news about the abductions has made him distrustful of North Korea's regime. (on camera): Authorities say Japanese foreign ministry officials did meet with the four surviving abductees in Pyongyang. They would like to come home and are expected to do so before Japan and North Korea start up normalization talks. But their stories, and the stories of those who didn't make it, are expected to haunt Japan's relations with North Korea for many years to come.
Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
