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Abducted and still missing
2010/12/19
By Badrolhisham Bidin
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WHEN 13-year old Megumi Yokota went missing on Nov 15, 1977 while returning home from school in Niigata, Japan, police thought it was a domestic crime.

But North Korea volunteered a confession 20 years later that their spies had abducted Megumi, described by her parents as just a "simple Japanese schoolgirl".

According to the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea (NARKN), Megumi was one of thousands of victims forcefully taken into the communist country.


Four Malaysian women were said to be among them.

According to NARKN, other nationalities, including Malaysians, were also kidnapped by the communist country, and the practice was rampant in the 1970s.

Those who had been in the country claimed to have spotted Italians, Dutch, French and Thai nationals in North Korean spy camps.


According to records, 508 South Koreans were abducted after the 1953 ceasefire.

Megumi was said to have committed suicide in April, 1994 due to depression but a DNA test revealed it was not her.

Niigata prefectural police Superintendent Hidesuke Sakata told the New Sunday Times in Japan recently that Megumi was abducted while on her way back from attending a school programme.


Sakata, who was a rookie back then, remembered how the police, together with residents of Niigata had conducted an extensive search for Megumi.

"Sniffer dogs led us but the trail ended just several metres from the cottage where the family lived.

"We believed she was bundled into a car and driven to the coastal area a few hundred metres away and transferred to a spy ship via a boat.

"The weather then was extremely cold and everyone was inside although it was only about 5.30pm and no one had spotted the incident," Sakata said.

"We never thought another country could have carried out such a heinous crime. But after the confession by the North Koreans, it was revealed there were many others who were similarly abducted.

"We believe our citizens were brought back to North Korea to train their spies on how to act and live like a Japanese so that they could blend well among us," said Sakata, now the chief of foreign affairs division at the security department.

In July the following year, a couple, Kaoru Hasuike and Yukiko Hasuike were also abducted.

They were later released and returned to Japan in October 2002.

A month later, Hitomi Soga, then 19, and her mum, Miyoshi Soga, were also abducted from Sado Island.

While Hitomi returned safely in 2002, the North Korean government insisted that Miyoshi had never entered the country.

They were among 17 Japanese confirmed abducted by the communist country.

The others were either abducted from other prefectures or while vacationing in Europe.

NARKN chairman Tsutomu Nishioka said he once received a death threat via mail after writing about the abduction in a local magazine.

"But that has never stopped me from pursuing the matter," he said.

"The threat is still there but our coast guards and maritime forces make sure they don't enter our waters illegally," he said.

Megumi has since become an icon for Japan.

Her father, Shigeru Yokota, a former bank officer who was transferred to Niigata way back in 1976, believes his daughter is still alive.

The frail looking man and his wife spend their entire time fighting to bring Megumi back.

"We do not believe she is dead. It is confirmed that she is married to an abductee from South Korea and they have a daughter. I just don't know why she was abducted. She was a simple girl, like any other her age.

"She loved playing badminton. The abductors showed us pictures of the same racquet she was carrying when she was abducted.

"It breaks our hearts to see those pictures. There were also pictures of Megumi and her husband but there was one which we just can't bear looking at. Megumi looks so sad in the picture, which was taken a year after she was abducted."

Her mother, Yokota remembered the night she went missing. "It was already dark and when she did not come home, we conducted a thorough search around the neighbourhood."

There was no trace of her and they called the police.

Their house, a bungalow, is just a few hundred metres away from the beach.

Opposite the beach stands a signboard warning residents to be wary of abductions carried out by the North Koreans.

Apart from the 17 confirmed abductions, it is also believed there were another 400 Japanese who could have been abducted and brought into North Korea.

Those who returned told authorities they were taken into guest houses where they were forced to learn the North Korean language and their way of life.


Read more: Abducted and still missing http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/19meg1/Article#ixzz18WWbB9D7