Case 1

September 19th, 1977:
Ushitsu Case

Victim : Yutaka Kume (52, Ishikawa Prefecture)

• Disappeared on September 19^th 1977, from the coast of Ushitsu, Ishikawa Prefecture.
• North Korea denies all knowledge of Mr. Kume ever having entered their country. In January 2003 the Japanese authorities issued an arrest warrant for North Korean agent Kim Se-Ho, the main suspect in this case, and placed him on the international wanted list. The Japanese Government has demanded that North Korea extradite Kim Se-Ho to Japan.
  The North Korean side, however, denied any knowledge of Kim Se-Ho but stated that it would conduct an investigation to identify him if Japan provided the relevant information in the Japan-DPRK Comprehensive Talks of February 2006.

 

Case 2

September 19, 1977:
Abduction Case Involving a Young Woman

Victim : Kyoko Matsumoto (29, Tottori Prefecture)

• Disappeared while on her way to attending a knitting school close to her home.
• The Japanese Government urged North Korea to provide information at the 12th round of the Japan-DPRK normalization talks held in Kuala Lumpur in October 2002 and the third rounds of Japan-DPRK working-level consultations held in 2004. In the third Japan-DPRK working-level consultations, North Korea said it could not confirm that Kyoko Matsumoto had ever entered North Korea.
• Since Kyoko Matsumoto was identified as an abductee in November 2006, the Japanese Government has been requesting North Korea to immediately return her, and to give a full account of her case, but has received no response to date.

 

Case 3

November 15th, 1977:
Abduction Case involving a young girl

Victim : Megumi Yokota (13, Niigata Prefecture)

• Disappeared on November 15th 1977, on her way home from school in Niigata city.
• In the third Japan-DPRK working-level consultations held in November 2004, North Korea stated that Ms. Yokota passed away in April 1994 and handed over what they claimed to be her "remains". DNA tests, however, revealed DNA belonging to other people amongst these "remains".
• In April 2004, the GoJ conducted a DNA test which revealed that the husband of Japanese abductee Ms. Megumi Yokota could most likely be Mr. Kim Yongnam who was abducted from the Republic of Korea in 1978 when he was still a high school boy.

 

Case 4

Around June 1978:
Abduction Case involving a former restaurant worker

Victim : Minoru Tanaka (28, Hyogo Prefecture)

• Disappeared around June 1978 after departing Japan for Europe.
• The Japanese Government first asked North Korea for information on Mr. Tanaka at the 12th round of the Japan-DPRK normalization in Kuala Lumpur in October 2002 and again at the third round of the Japan-DPRK working-level consultations in 2004. North Korea, however, stated that it could not confirm whether Mr. Tanaka had ever entered North Korea at the third Japan-DPRK working-level consultations.
• After the GoJ identified Mr. Minoru Tanaka as an abductee in April 2005, it has been calling on North Korea to immediately return Mr. Tanaka, and provide a full account of his abduction. North Korea, however, has not made any response to date.

 

Case 5

Around June 1978:
Lee Un-Hae Case

Victim : Yaeko Taguchi (22, unknown)

• Kim Hyon Hui, North Korean agent convicted of the 1987 Korean Air Lines bombing, has testified that she learned how to pass as a Japanese from a female instructor by the name Lee Un-Hae. It is now believed that this Lee Un-Ha is in fact the missing Ms. Taguchi.
• North Korea has informed the GoJ that Ms. Taguchi married Mr. Tadaaki Hara (refer to case 11) in 1984 but was killed in an traffic accident immediately after Mr. Hara died of illness in 1986. North Korea, however, has not provided any material or evidence corroborating these claims.

 

Case 6

July 7th, 1978:
Abduction Case of a Couple

Victims :
Yasushi Chimura (23, Fukui Prefecture) (left photo)
Fukie Chimura (nee Hamamoto) (23, Fukui Prefecture)

• Disappeared on July 7th, 1978 after saying they were going out on a date.
• The couple married in 1979 in North Korea after being abducted and were returned to Japan in October 2002. Their daughter and two sons were later reunited with them in Japan on May 22, 2004.
  In February 2006, the Japanese authorities issued an arrest warrant for the culprit of their abduction, North Korean spy Sin Kwang-Su, and put him on the international wanted list. The GoJ is demanding that North Korea extradite him to Japan.

 

Case 7

July 31st, 1978:
Abduction Case of a Couple

Victims :
Kaoru Hasuike (20, Niigata Prefecture) (left photo)
Yukiko Hasuike (nee Okudo) (22, Niigata Prefecture)

• On July 31, 1978, Mr. Hasuike left home saying that he would be going out briefly but failed to return home. The then Ms. Okudo similarly disappeared after going out.
• The couple married in 1980 in North Korea after being abducted and were returned to Japan in October 2002. Their son and daughter were later reunited with them in Japan on May 22, 2004.
  In February 2006, the Japanese authorities issued an arrest warrant for the culprit of their abduction, North Korean agent commonly known as Choi Sun-Chol, and later in February 2007, another arrest warrants for a North Korean Labour Party member known as Han Myong-Il and calling himself Han Kum-Nyong, and a man going by the name of Kim Nam-Jin as accessories of the abduction, as well as putting these people on the international wanted list. The GoJ is demanding that North Korea extradite them to Japan.

 

Case 8

August 12th, 1978:
Abduction Case of a Couple

Victims :
Shuichi Ichikawa (23, Kagoshima Prefecture) (left photo)
Rumiko Masumoto (24, Kagoshima Prefecture)

• Disappeared on August 12th, 1978 after leaving home saying they were going to watch the sunset on the beach.
• North Korea has informed the GoJ that after the couple were abducted, they married in July 1979 and also explained that Mr. Ichikawa died of a heart attack during swimming in September of the same year while Ms. Masumoto died of a heart attack in 1981. North Korea, however, has yet to provide any material or evidence corroborating these claims.

 

Case 9

August 12th, 1978:
Abduction Case of a Mother and Daughter

Victims :
Hitomi Soga (19, Niigata Prefecture) (left photo)
Miyoshi Soga (46, Niigata Prefecture)

• Disappeared on August 12th, 1978 after saying they were going shopping nearby.
• Ms. Hitomi Soga were returned to Japan in October 2002. Her husband (Mr. Charles Jenkins, a US citizen) and two daughters were reunited with her in Japan in July 2004.
• North Korea has stated that they cannot trace any record of Ms. Miyoshi Soga entering the country.
• In January 2006, the Japanese authorities issued an arrest warrant for North Korean agent going by the name of Kim Myon-Suk, who is responsible for their abduction, and put him on the international wanted list. The Japanese Government has demanded that North Korea extradite Kim Myon-Suk to Japan.

 

Case 10

Around May 1980:
Abduction case involving two Japanese males in Europe

Victims :
Toru Ishioka (22, Europe) (left photo)
Kaoru Matsuki (26, Europe)

• Both males disappeared in 1980 while they were staying in Europe. In 1988, Mr. Ishioka's family in Japan suddenly received a letter from Mr. Ishioka (bearing a Polish postmark) in 1988 which revealed that he was residing in North Korea along with Mr. Matsuki and Ms. Keiko Arimoto (Refer to case 12).
• North Korea claims that Mr. Ishioka and Ms. Arimoto died in November 1988 due to a gas poisoning accident, but has given no material or evidence to corroborate their claim. North Korea has informed the GoJ that Mr. Matsuki died in an traffic accident in August 1996. North Korea handed over what they presented as the possible "remains" of Mr. Matsuki in September 2002 and also in the third Japan-DPRK working-level consultations in November 2004, but DNA tests detected DNA of other people in these "remains".
• In June 2007, the Japanese authorities issued arrest warrants for the wives of Yodo-go members Yoriko Mori and Sakiko Wakabayashi (formerly Kuroda) who are responsible for their abductions, and put them on the international wanted list.

 

Case 11

Mid-June 1980:
Sin Kwang-Su Case

Victim : Tadaaki Hara (43, Miyazaki Prefecture)

• Disappeared in mid June 1980 in Miyazaki Prefecture.
• North Korean agent Sin Kwang-Su has confessed to the authorities of the Republic of Korea of having abducted Mr. Hara. The Japanese authorities issued an arrest warrant for Sin Kwang-Su in August 2002 and put him on the international wanted list. The GoJ is demanding that North Korea extradite Sin Kwang-Su to Japan, but North Korea has rejected these demands and has held him in reverence as a "hero".
• North Korea has informed the GoJ that Mr. Hara married Ms. Yaeko Taguchi (Refer to case 5) in 1984, but died of hepatic cirrhosis in 1986. North Korea has not given any material or evidence to corroborate their claim. Furthermore, Kim Kil-Uk, is wanted as an accessory in the case of the abductions of Tadaaki Hara, and an arrest warrant has been issued along with other necessary measures such as circulating an Interpol notice.

 

Case 12

Around July 1983:
Abduction case of a japanese woman in Europe

Victim : Keiko Arimoto (23, Europe)

• Disappeared around July 1983 in Europe.
• The former wife of a Yodo-go hijack member responsible for the abduction acknowledges that Keiko Arimoto was abducted with the cooperation of the North Korean authorities. The Japanese authorities issued an arrest warrant in September 2002 for Yodo-go member Kimihiro Uomoto (formerly Abe), who is responsible for this abduction, and put him on the international wanted list. The GoJ has demanded North Korea to hand him over, to which the North Korean side has not responded.
• North Korea has informed the GoJ that Ms. Arimoto and Mr. Ishioka (Refer to case 10) died in a gas poisoning accident in November 1988, but has not given any material or evidence to corroborate their claim.

Copyright © 2007 Secretariat, Headquarters for the Abduction Issue, Government of Japan