Japanese abductee kin in S. Korea to meet ex-N. Korean agent+

BUSAN, South Korea, March 10 Kyodo - A brother and the son of Japanese abductee Yaeko Taguchi arrived Tuesday in Busan, South Korea, for a meeting Wednesday with Kim Hyon Hui, a former North
Korean agent who is believed to have been taught Japanese by Taguchi.

''We would like a light of hope to fall on families of Japanese and South
Koreans abducted (by North Korea), just like it did on us,'' the son, Koichiro
Iizuka, 32, told a news conference prior to his departure from Narita airport
near Tokyo with Shigeo Iizuka, 70.
Shigeo voiced hope that the talks with Kim, who currently lives in South Korea,
will create a starting point for relevant parties to settle the abduction
issues.
''Thanks to Kim's testimony, we were able to confirm that Yaeko is in North
Korea and to conduct search activities,'' Shigeo said, referring to his sister
who was kidnapped in June 1978 at the age of 22.
Kim, convicted of the 1987 fatal bombing of a South Korean airliner but later
freed under a presidential pardon, has expressed her wish to meet Taguchi's
relatives.
Taguchi is among at least a dozen Japanese victims of North Korea's abductions
who remain missing, according to the Japanese government. North Korea admitted
to abducting her but says she died in 1986, a claim Japan disputes.
Koichiro, who works for an information technology company in Tokyo as an
engineer, has said he has no memory of his mother because he was only 1 year
old when she was abducted. Koichiro was raised by Shigeo and his wife.
==Kyodo
2009-03-10 20:43:08