Posted on 05/27/2004 7:28:05 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Hasuike tells kids about abductions
(Asahi Shimbun)
KASHIWAZAKI, Niigata Prefecture-With the emotional reunion over, the North Korean-born children of repatriated abductees Kaoru and Yukiko Hasuike got a heavy dose of reality Monday.
Their father told them that he and their mother were abducted to North Korea, where the couple lived until they returned to Japan in 2002.
Speaking at a news conference here, Kaoru Hasuike, 46, said he told his two children earlier in the day about having been abducted.
Hasuike said his children seemed shocked by the news, but that his 19-year-old son, Katsuya, had suspected as much. He said the youth looked perplexed but remained silent when he learned how his parents arrived in North Korea in 1978. Hasuike then gave the same news to his daughter, Shigeyo, 22. Her reaction was similar.
Hasuike said his children seemed to have been aware that reports in North Korea about the abduction issue concerned their parents.
He also explained to his children that they remained in Japan after their homecoming in 2002 in the belief it was ``best to stay here for their sake'' as well as the couple's parents.
The Hasuikes returned to the family home on Sunday.
And on Monday, fellow repatriated abductees Yasushi and Fukie Chimura returned to their home to Obama, Fukui Prefecture, with their three children.
``Their life here is starting from scratch,'' Yasushi Chimura, 48, said when the family was welcomed in Obama. He asked for support and cooperation for the entire family as the five of them stood in front of a banner welcoming the children to the parents' hometown.
Yasushi Chimura, 48, later told a news conference he had not given his children details of the couple's abduction.
``But they seem to be aware that their parents are Japanese,'' Chimura said.
Both the Hasuikes and Chimuras were abducted from coastal areas by North Korean agents in the summer of 1978. Both were married in North Korea and their children were born there.
On Sunday, the three children learned they also had Japanese names. However, Chimura said it was too early to go public with the names.
``I don't plan to keep their Japanese names secret. I will make it public when the children become fully aware of their Japanese identity and can answer when they are called by their Japanese names,'' he said.
The 22-year-old daughter is a graduate of English at a teachers' college in North Korea; the 20-year-old son was studying engineering and the 16-year-old was enrolled as a commerce college student.
Meantime, the Hasuikes told their daughter, who was working part time after completing college, and the son, who was studying computers at college, their Japanese names after they arrived in Kashiwazaki on Sunday. The couple had secretly decided on their Japanese names when the children were born, Kaoru Hasuike said.
The Chimuras and Hasuikes registered their children's births after they returned to Japan and their Japanese names have been entered into the family registers.
The five children hold Japanese nationality regardless of their place of birth.
Except for Chimura's 16-year-old, the four had taken Japanese as a foreign language at school and can read and write basic Japanese as well as mumble greetings.
Ping!
Aren't the North Koreans swell guys according to Jimmy Carter? Especially the Great Leader who was in charge when these poor Japanese were kidnapped?
What was the point of the kidnapping?
He is a swell guy alright, physically. That is, well-fed and fat.
I think I'll go now and look again at the "atrocity" photos from Abu Ghraib ...
It reportedly started when some Japanese left-wing terrorists, who defected to N. Korea, grumbled to Kim Il-sung that they want to get married with Japanese girls, back in 70's. So Kim Il-sung decided to grab girls for them. They kidnapped Japanese girls traveling in Europe. Later, they also kidnapped folks on Japanese shore. Some were grabbed because they happened to witness the drop or pickup operation of their agents near the beach. They needed to remove witnesses. They might have also needed native Japanese to teach their spies how to seamlessly blend in Japan.
Thanks for the ping
Wow!
I have to admit I don't understand this story. It isn't explained very well.
You make it more clear than the article. Thanks.
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