Japanese Abductees
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Japanese Abductees
Wow.... North Korea sure is taking this thing slow... I'm really mad that the abductees have to GO BACK.... 
but at least there seem to be some romantic life stories in there somewhere. 
Japanese abductees catch up on decades missed in North Korea
TOKYO (AP) - Five Japanese kidnapped by North Korean spies in 1978 spent their first day back in Japan getting reacquainted with their families at a Tokyo hotel, as friends and officials in their hometowns prepared Wednesday to welcome them back after nearly a quarter century.
The five - the only known survivors of at least 13 Japanese abducted in the late 1970s and early 80s - returned to Japan on Tuesday in one of the most emotional homecomings Japan has experienced in decades.
The return will only be brief, however.
They are expected to go back to North Korea after about 10 days. The abductees were also not allowed to bring their children, which their families here have said is tantamount to the North keeping the children as hostages.
The five - now all in their 40s - kept out of the public eye Wednesday, staying with their relatives and enjoying a sushi meal at the Tokyo hotel where they are spending two nights before returning to their hometowns on Thursday.
They had a great deal of catching up to do.
Two of the abductees, Kaoru Hasuike and Yukiko Okudo, were kidnapped while on a date.
They got married while in North Korea and have a son and daughter.
"My brother told my dad, 'I'm sorry for going off and getting married without saying anything. I have kids now, too,''' Toru Hasuike, Kaoru's elder brother, said Wednesday.
In Obama, a small town on the central Japan coast, classmates and friends of two other abductees, Yasushi Chimura and Fukie Hamamoto, made "Welcome Home'' posters and prepared to greet the couple with flowers, town official Kazuhiko Matsumi said.
Chimura and Hamamoto were engaged when they were snatched off a beach on the Japan Sea coast. They also later married in North Korea, and raised three children there.
Hitomi Soga, the fifth kidnapping victim, will return to her home on the secluded island of Sado.
Soga also married in North Korea, but Japanese officials said her husband, an American listed as a deserter from the U.S. Army, chose not to come with her.
Soga, who completed her high school studies but disappeared before graduation, will be presented with a diploma upon her return, Sado High School official Seiichi Homma said.
The homecoming comes amid indications that North Korea, impoverished and isolated, is willing to open slightly to the outside world.
It has recently begun work on a cross-border railway with rival South Korea and announced plans to create an experimental free trade zone.
The North's relations with former colonial ruler Japan have thawed significantly since an unprecedented summit last month between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
Kim admitted at the summit on Sept. 17 that "elements in the military'' had carried out the abductions.
The confession opened the way for the two countries to resume talks later this month on establishing diplomatic relations. - AP
but at least there seem to be some romantic life stories in there somewhere. Japanese abductees catch up on decades missed in North Korea
TOKYO (AP) - Five Japanese kidnapped by North Korean spies in 1978 spent their first day back in Japan getting reacquainted with their families at a Tokyo hotel, as friends and officials in their hometowns prepared Wednesday to welcome them back after nearly a quarter century.
The five - the only known survivors of at least 13 Japanese abducted in the late 1970s and early 80s - returned to Japan on Tuesday in one of the most emotional homecomings Japan has experienced in decades.
The return will only be brief, however.
They are expected to go back to North Korea after about 10 days. The abductees were also not allowed to bring their children, which their families here have said is tantamount to the North keeping the children as hostages.
The five - now all in their 40s - kept out of the public eye Wednesday, staying with their relatives and enjoying a sushi meal at the Tokyo hotel where they are spending two nights before returning to their hometowns on Thursday.
They had a great deal of catching up to do.
Two of the abductees, Kaoru Hasuike and Yukiko Okudo, were kidnapped while on a date.
They got married while in North Korea and have a son and daughter.
"My brother told my dad, 'I'm sorry for going off and getting married without saying anything. I have kids now, too,''' Toru Hasuike, Kaoru's elder brother, said Wednesday.
In Obama, a small town on the central Japan coast, classmates and friends of two other abductees, Yasushi Chimura and Fukie Hamamoto, made "Welcome Home'' posters and prepared to greet the couple with flowers, town official Kazuhiko Matsumi said.
Chimura and Hamamoto were engaged when they were snatched off a beach on the Japan Sea coast. They also later married in North Korea, and raised three children there.
Hitomi Soga, the fifth kidnapping victim, will return to her home on the secluded island of Sado.
Soga also married in North Korea, but Japanese officials said her husband, an American listed as a deserter from the U.S. Army, chose not to come with her.
Soga, who completed her high school studies but disappeared before graduation, will be presented with a diploma upon her return, Sado High School official Seiichi Homma said.
The homecoming comes amid indications that North Korea, impoverished and isolated, is willing to open slightly to the outside world.
It has recently begun work on a cross-border railway with rival South Korea and announced plans to create an experimental free trade zone.
The North's relations with former colonial ruler Japan have thawed significantly since an unprecedented summit last month between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
Kim admitted at the summit on Sept. 17 that "elements in the military'' had carried out the abductions.
The confession opened the way for the two countries to resume talks later this month on establishing diplomatic relations. - AP
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From: Glendale/Burbank/LA
Originally posted by PeaceLove&S2K
wait a second...
so why were the Japanese folks abducted??
wait a second...
so why were the Japanese folks abducted??
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