Yao Disputes Kim's Denial of Involvement in Abductions
TOKYO — The abductor of a Japanese college student in Europe in 1983 said Tuesday night she cannot believe North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was not aware of the series of abductions by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.
Megumi Yao, the former wife of one of nine Japanese who hijacked a Japan Airlines jet to North Korea in 1970, told a private TV station by telephone, "I feel a heavy responsibility...I'm heart-broken."
Yao made the remarks concerning the North's confirmation that Keiko Arimoto, the former college student from Kobe who was studying in London in 1983 at age 23 when she abducted Arimoto for North Korea, has died. Also confirmed dead were two Japanese men who went to North Korea separately in 1980 after traveling to Spain.
"General Secretary Kim was said to be the leader in the spy campaign against South Korea. It's impossible he did not know about the abductions," Yao said.
Earlier this year, Yao, 46, told a Japanese court she was involved in the Arimoto abduction. (Kyodo News)
TOKYO — The abductor of a Japanese college student in Europe in 1983 said Tuesday night she cannot believe North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was not aware of the series of abductions by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.
Megumi Yao, the former wife of one of nine Japanese who hijacked a Japan Airlines jet to North Korea in 1970, told a private TV station by telephone, "I feel a heavy responsibility...I'm heart-broken."
Yao made the remarks concerning the North's confirmation that Keiko Arimoto, the former college student from Kobe who was studying in London in 1983 at age 23 when she abducted Arimoto for North Korea, has died. Also confirmed dead were two Japanese men who went to North Korea separately in 1980 after traveling to Spain.
"General Secretary Kim was said to be the leader in the spy campaign against South Korea. It's impossible he did not know about the abductions," Yao said.
Earlier this year, Yao, 46, told a Japanese court she was involved in the Arimoto abduction. (Kyodo News)