Families of Japanese citizens abducted by DPRK hope to keep issue on the agenda during election campaign

Relatives of Japanese citizens abducted by DPRKin the 1970s and 1980s are concerned the issue will receive little attention during campaigning for the July 10 upper house election, with economic and social security issues largely in focus.

“If it [campaigning] goes on like this, the abduction issue will be out of sight. Even if only for five minutes, I want candidates to talk about the issue in their speeches,” Shigeo Iizuka, the 78-year-old head of a group representing abductees’ families, said.

Official campaigning for the House of Councillors election began on Wednesday, and DPRKlaunched what are believed to have been two Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles from its east coast the same day.

DPRKagreed with the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in May 2014 to reinvestigate the abductions. But with no progress made, Pyongyang said in February this year it will suspend the probe following Tokyo’s toughening of sanctions over its nuclear and missile test activities.

With DPRKshowing no sign of compromising, Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted to DPRKin 1977 at age 13, continues to pin her hopes on Japanese politicians’ efforts to resolve the issue.

“We will support candidates who will seriously work on the abduction issue,” the 80-year-old mother said.

Kenichi Ichikawa, 71, the older brother of Shuichi Ichikawa who was abducted in Kagoshima Prefecture in 1978 when he was 23, sees the election as a golden opportunity to appeal to younger people, as it is the first national election since the country’s voting age was lowered to 18 from 20.

“When I go to speak, children concentrate on what I say. So I want candidates also to talk about it seriously to young people,” he said.

Iizuka, whose younger sister Yaeko Taguchi was abducted in 1978 at the age of 22, said: “If candidates don’t discuss the issue during the election campaign, I don’t think they are qualified to become [Diet] members because this is a matter the state is dealing with.”

Supporters of the abductees’ families have expressed disappointment at the lack of progress on the abduction issue under Abe’s government.

Japan to maintain pressure on DPRKover stalled abductions investigation: officials

“I had hopes of Prime Minister Abe, but I’m disappointed that nothing has moved,” a participant in a gathering organised by supporters said on June 5.

Another participant said: “Why is the minister in charge of the abduction issue serving in other ministerial posts at the same time?”

The Japanese government officially lists 17 nationals as having been abducted by DPRKn agents in the 1970s and 1980s, but suspects Pyongyang’s involvement in many more disappearances.

The abduction issue has prevented the two countries from normalising diplomatic ties.

(SCMP)