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| Years After Abduction by North Korea, a Reunion | Years After Abduction by North Korea, a Reunion |
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| TOKYO — The parents of a Japanese woman abducted by North Korea in 1977 were allowed to see their North Korean-born granddaughter for the first time last week at a secret meeting in Mongolia, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. | |
| The meeting in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, between the parents of Megumi Yokota, who disappeared in Japan on her way home from school when she was 13, and her daughter, Kim Eun-gyong, now 26, according to Japanese news media, appeared to be a good-will gesture by North Korea toward Japan. | The meeting in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, between the parents of Megumi Yokota, who disappeared in Japan on her way home from school when she was 13, and her daughter, Kim Eun-gyong, now 26, according to Japanese news media, appeared to be a good-will gesture by North Korea toward Japan. |
| Ms. Yokota, who died in 1994, according to North Korea, has been the subject of foreign and Japanese documentary films and also manga comics, making her perhaps the best-known of more than a dozen Japanese citizens known to have been kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and ’80s. | Ms. Yokota, who died in 1994, according to North Korea, has been the subject of foreign and Japanese documentary films and also manga comics, making her perhaps the best-known of more than a dozen Japanese citizens known to have been kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and ’80s. |
| The ministry said her parents, Shigeru and Sakie Yokota, 81 and 78, met Ms. Kim for several days last week, though it provided few details. Ms. Yokota’s former husband, Kim Young-nam, a South Korean who was also kidnapped by the North, might have also been present, according to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency. | The ministry said her parents, Shigeru and Sakie Yokota, 81 and 78, met Ms. Kim for several days last week, though it provided few details. Ms. Yokota’s former husband, Kim Young-nam, a South Korean who was also kidnapped by the North, might have also been present, according to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency. |
| The Asahi Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper, quoted unnamed government officials as saying that Ms. Kim’s child — the Yokotas’ great-grandchild — was also present. The age and sex of the child were not provided. | The Asahi Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper, quoted unnamed government officials as saying that Ms. Kim’s child — the Yokotas’ great-grandchild — was also present. The age and sex of the child were not provided. |
| Japanese news media said the meeting was agreed upon during informal talks between Japanese and North Korean officials this month in Shenyang, China. Those talks, on the sidelines of a meeting of the two nations’ Red Cross societies, were aimed at restarting an official dialogue between the two estranged nations, which was frozen after North Korea launched a large rocket over Japan in December 2012. | Japanese news media said the meeting was agreed upon during informal talks between Japanese and North Korean officials this month in Shenyang, China. Those talks, on the sidelines of a meeting of the two nations’ Red Cross societies, were aimed at restarting an official dialogue between the two estranged nations, which was frozen after North Korea launched a large rocket over Japan in December 2012. |
| Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan has reached out to North Korea, sending a top aide to Pyongyang, the North’s capital, last year in an effort to resolve lingering questions over the fate of the abductees. A breakthrough on this issue could open the way for the resumption of talks toward normalizing relations. Those talks were disrupted a decade ago, when North Korea first admitted to Junichiro Koizumi, then Japan’s prime minister and Mr. Abe’s political mentor, that it had kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens. | Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan has reached out to North Korea, sending a top aide to Pyongyang, the North’s capital, last year in an effort to resolve lingering questions over the fate of the abductees. A breakthrough on this issue could open the way for the resumption of talks toward normalizing relations. Those talks were disrupted a decade ago, when North Korea first admitted to Junichiro Koizumi, then Japan’s prime minister and Mr. Abe’s political mentor, that it had kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens. |
| In 2002, North Korea returned five of the abductees but said the others had died, in some cases under circumstances that the Japanese considered to be mysterious or far-fetched. The lack of information has fostered a feeling in Japan that some of the abductees may still be alive. The Yokotas have said that they do not believe North Korea’s account that their daughter committed suicide in a mental hospital in 1994. | In 2002, North Korea returned five of the abductees but said the others had died, in some cases under circumstances that the Japanese considered to be mysterious or far-fetched. The lack of information has fostered a feeling in Japan that some of the abductees may still be alive. The Yokotas have said that they do not believe North Korea’s account that their daughter committed suicide in a mental hospital in 1994. |
| The Yokotas’ long and often-lonely search to discover the fate of their missing daughter eventually captured the hearts of many Japanese, galvanizing anger at North Korea over the abductions. | The Yokotas’ long and often-lonely search to discover the fate of their missing daughter eventually captured the hearts of many Japanese, galvanizing anger at North Korea over the abductions. |
| For its part, North Korea has in the past appeared to try to use the couple’s granddaughter, who has also been identified as Kim Hye-gyong, as a bargaining chip with Japan, dangling the prospect of a meeting in what may have been an effort to get concessions in future negotiations. | For its part, North Korea has in the past appeared to try to use the couple’s granddaughter, who has also been identified as Kim Hye-gyong, as a bargaining chip with Japan, dangling the prospect of a meeting in what may have been an effort to get concessions in future negotiations. |