Ministry bungle leaves letter by abductee's kin neglected for 5 yrs

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TOKYO, April 14 Kyodo -
A letter written by the son of a Japanese woman abducted to North Korea and
addressed to a former agent of the reclusive country was not delivered and left
neglected for about five years due to poor handling by the Japanese Foreign
Ministry, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone reprimanded ministry officials who were in
charge over the sloppy management and reported the case to Prime Minister Taro
Aso the same day. Nakasone said he has apologized Iizuka for the mismanagement
over the phone.
Koichiro Iizuka, 32, the son of Yaeko Taguchi, who was kidnapped by North Korea
in June 1978 at the age of 22, wrote the letter to the former spy Kim Hyon Hui,
seeking a meeting with her to gain information on his mother, according to
Kawamura. Kim knew Taguchi as a Japanese-language teacher.
His letter was handed to Akitaka Saiki, who was then deputy director general of
the ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, in February 2004. The
ministry tried to deliver it to Kim through the Japanese embassy in Seoul, but
the South Korean government later said it could not give the letter to the
former agent.
Kawamura said the ministry told Iizuka about the South Korean government's
response, but that the letter itself was kept at the ministry.
On March 11 this year, Iizuka finally met with Kim in South Korea's Busan and
the former spy said at that time that she had not received the letter from the
abductee's son. The ministry returned the letter to him on the following day.
Kawamura apologized for the delay in returning the letter to Iizuka at a press
conference. ''We'd like to fully consider the feelings of the Iizuka family
from now on.''
Iizuka told Kyodo News that he feels sorry, but that it is ''not worth making a
great fuss about'' the incident.
Kim said during the Busan meeting she believes Taguchi is still alive.
The meeting between Iizuka and Kim did not materialize for a long time because
the administration of former South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun had been
reluctant due to concerns that such an action could vex North Korea.
Kim was convicted of the 1987 fatal bombing of a South Korean airliner but was
later freed under a presidential pardon.
Iizuka was only 1 year old when Taguchi was abducted and has said he has no
memory of his mother. 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.
==Kyodo