Cabinet of Abduction

The new Prime Minister of Japan is pushing the abduction issue to the next level

TOKYO Japan has set up a Cabinet headquarters led by new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to push North Korea to provide further information on the fate of Japanese citizens it abducted in the 1970s and ’80s, the government said Friday.

The headquarters will push for further information on the abductees and seek the quick return of any remaining survivors, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said.

North Korea has acknowledged abducting about a dozen Japanese who were used to train North Korean spies in Japanese language and culture. It allowed five to return under Abe’s predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, and says all the others are dead.

But Japan says the North has not provided enough information, and believes that more Japanese were taken than the North has acknowledged.

Later Friday, Abe and members of the headquarters met with a group of families of the abduction victims, vowing to step up their effort to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.

Do not expect Japan to patch up relations with the North anytime soon until it spills the beans.