The Japanese government on Thursday launched a "summit" of junior high school students across Japan in order to bring greater attention to North Korea's abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.
With only five of the 17 officially recognized abductees having been returned almost two decades ago and with Tokyo and Pyongyang at a deadlock over the others, the government wants to create momentum toward a resolution, in the hope that the young people who take part will spread greater awareness through their communities.
"People uniting and showing a strong determination to have all the abductees return home as soon as possible will help resolve this issue," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, who is also the minister in charge of the issue.
Matsuno said he is sorry the government has been unable to secure the return of a single abductee from North Korea since the first five came home in 2002.
"By participating in the summit, I want you to know more about the serious abuse of human rights that has taken place and think deeply about personal dignity," he said at the summit, in which around 60 students took part.
Takuya Yokota, the head of a group representing the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, also spoke at the event. His sister Megumi was abducted in 1977 at age 13.
"The moment you think this problem is somebody else's is when you allow human rights to be violated. I really want you to speak to your friends and families about this," he said.
Student participants had been chosen by their prefectural and local school boards, but some were unable to attend due to a powerful typhoon that has rocked southwest and west Japan.
© KYODO
17 Comments
sakurasuki
Should have class about Pearl Harbor and Nanjing too.
Those students life are more valuable than just attending government propaganda in the middle of typhoon.
divinda
So "summit" is a new term for "lecture"?
buua
LDP propaganda.
BigP
Definitely agree! Have a summit for JHS students as to “Why” Hiroshima & Nagasaki were destroyed, and who was responsible for the terrible war.
Moonraker
Nobody is ever a victim of Japanese policies; Japanese are always the victims of others (or nature). This message is a vital part of the propaganda the youth have to be inducted into.
Garthgoyle
Did they lecture the students on how Japan still does the exact same thing NK did, but now in 2023?
We can all agree on that. So why does Japan keep on violating human rights?
kurisupisu
These events (abductions) were certainly traumatic for those families but why are events that occurred 40-50 years ago being made into an issue now?
Since when has the Japanese government made North Korean rapprochement an objective?
Which Japanese PM has instigated a dialogue with NK since 2002?
Has it ever been explained why the North Korea might harbor ill will against Japan and its citizens?
So much not done and said but that is Japan…
Bob Fosse
Was Ai Fukuhara a guest speaker?
Sam Watters
@Bob Fosse. You beat me to it! Perhaps it’s time to have a “summit” for foreign men who have their children taken from them by Japanese women.
Legrande
So do they go into detail how the Korean people's rights were violated for 35 years during Japan's occupation of the peninsula?- Yeah didn't think so, especially since Abe 'revised' the textbooks.
Reginald Bok
Some great comments here!
Mr Kipling
Did they tell the kids that the Japanese government knew for years and did NOTHING for fear of upsetting North Korea.....
Sultan of Words
And the west is always the good guy. This message is a vital part of the propaganda the youth have to be inducted into.
Sultan of Words
Thank you.
Sultan of Words
Japan wont forget them. They will be home soon.
Reginald Bok
Yours, not so much
Abe234
Might also be a great idea to have a summit debate on wether or not dropping the A bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was actually justified.
mill wait for the Japan today down votes. LoL
i guess this is one summit to create a bogey man for the LDP so they can keep bring this up at every election.
kinda feels like brainwashing. I guess these hand picked students aren’t the students who challenge authorities.