By FUMIKO HATTORI
Observer Staff
Jan. 23, 2008
The possibility of the United States taking North Korea off its list of state sponsors of terrorism has become a closely watched topic for neighboring Asians focused on resolving a human rights issue: abductions by North Korea.
Estimates vary, but North Korea is believed to have abducted about 1,000 people from a dozen countries – mostly from South Korea and Japan –and another 80,000 or so date back to the 1950-1953 Korean War.
North Korea said in 2002 that it had abducted 13 Japanese people, the youngest being a 13-year-old girl, in the 1970s and 1980s to train its spies. Pyongyang later allowed five of them to make a temporary visit to Japan, and the five stayed. North Korea said the remaining eight abductees were dead but the evidence it provided did not satisfy Japan.
Observer photo by Fumiko Hattori Jae Hyun Bae helps read the names of more than 80,000 presumed abductees at Lafayette Park in September. His friend’s name is in the list.
Still, North Korea said in September last year that the United States agreed to take it off the list of state sponsors of terrorism, a claim the United States denied.
The progress has yet to be verified, but North Korea has been taking steps to come clean on its nuclear program based on agreements made during six-party nuclear talks. The other members are the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
Although North Korea missed its year-end deadline to fully declare its nuclear program, U.S. nuclear negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, said earlier this month that North Korea’s nuclear shutdown was “going well.”
North Korea “is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987,” according to the U.S. State Department’s annual report on global terrorism.
But Japan has said that North Korea’s terrorism activities continue to this day because the abductions issue has not been resolved.
The Observer’s Fumiko Hattori spoke with two District area residents calling for the return of abductees.
Izumi Asano is a Japanese man whose kin is believed to have been abducted from Sado, an island just off the Japan Sea coast.
Jae Hyun Bae is a South Korean whose friend was abducted from Yanji, near the border between China and North Korea.
Observer photo by Fumiko Hattori Izumi Asano reads a message from a Japanese lawmaker at a human rights rally in the District in December. Asano’s relative is believed to have been abducted to North Korea.
Timeline:
Feb. 1974 – Japanese civil servant Takashi Osawa, 27, disappears from the Japanese island of Sado.
Jan. 1988 – North Korea is put on the U.S. State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism following the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner.
Oct. 1994 – North Korea and the United States agree on a framework to replace North Korea’s nuclear power plants, which can produce weapons-grade plutonium, with light water reactor power plants.
Jan. 2000 – Don-Shik Kim, who is a 53-year-old South Korean pastor and permanent U.S. resident, disappears from Yanji, a city near the border between China and North Korea.
Sept. 2002 – North Korea admits it abducted 13 Japanese people in the 1970s and 1980s.
Oct. 2002 – North Korea tells the United States that it has developed a secret nuclear weapons program, violating the 1994 framework. North Korea returns five Japanese abductees.
Jan. 2003 – North Korea says it will withdraw immediately from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The withdrawal becomes effective three months later.
May 2003 – North Korea withdraws from a 1992 agreement with South Korea to keep the peninsula nuclear-free, ditching its only remaining international agreement on nuclear non-proliferation.
Aug. 2003 – Six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program begin. The six participants are North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
Dec. 2004 – South Korean authorities arrest a man in connection with the 2000 disappearance of Don-Shik Kim and charge him with spying for North Korea and kidnapping.
Sept. 2005 – North Korea says it will scrap its nuclear program, and the United States says it has no intention to attack or invade North Korea. The following day, North Korea says it will not give up its nuclear program until it is provided with a civilian nuclear reactor.
Oct. 2006 – North Korea carries out its first nuclear test.
Dec. 2006 – The United Nations adopts a resolution saying that the abduction of foreigners “violates the human rights of the nationals of other sovereign countries.”
Feb. 2007 – North Korea agrees during six-party nuclear talks to take steps toward nuclear disarmament.
April 2007 – The United States paves the way to release $25 million in frozen North Korean assets in Macau.
Sept. 2007 – North Korea says the United States has agreed to take it off the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Dec. 2007 – North Korea misses its year-end deadline to disclose all information on its nuclear program, but a U.S. State Department official says the nuclear shutdown process is “going well.”
For more information:
Discussion
Comments are disallowed for this post.
Comments are closed.