ABDUCTEE GROUPS CALL FOR CONTINUED U.S. SUPPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000050 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2019 TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV JA KN SUBJECT: ABDUCTEE GROUPS CALL FOR CONTINUED U.S. SUPPORT REF: 08 TOKYO 2808 TOKYO 00000050 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: DCM James P. Zumwalt, reasons 1.4(b),(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: The abductee families look forward to continuing support from the United States "in whatever way it sees as right," Sakie Yokota and three other representatives of the two major abductee support groups told Ambassador Schieffer in a farewell call on January 8. The families expressed appreciation for the personal attention of President Bush to their cause, and hoped that the incoming administration would continue to work with the international community to ensure that the world remains focused on the issue. The representatives reiterated their commitment to pressing their case until all of the victims have been accounted for or returned, and asked that the United States provide any available information on the location and condition of their missing relatives. The two associations, along with a group of prefectural governors, plan to deliver petitions to the incoming U.S. administration shortly after January 20. End summary. ¶2. (C) Representatives of the two major abductee support groups -- Chairman Shigeo Iizuka, Secretary General Teruaki Masumoto, and Mrs. Sakie Yokota of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea (AFVKN - "Kazoku-kai") and Secretary General Ryutaro Hirata of the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea (NARKN - "Sukuu-kai") -- called on the Ambassador on January 8 to thank him for his consideration and ask for continued support. Mrs. Yokota was particularly appreciative of her meeting with President Bush and the Ambassador's visit to the site of her daughter's abduction in Niigata. As a result of those and other contributions by the United States, Masumoto said, the world had come to see through the "lies and deception" of the DPRK. ¶3. (C) Chairman Iizuka acknowledged that Japan has the central role in resolving the abductions issue, but asked for continued support from the new U.S. administration. Masumoto urged the new administration to continue to contribute to resolution of this issue in "whatever way it sees as right." While the families understand the value of peace, Mrs. Yokota said, their paramount concern is the return of their relatives. She hoped that the leaders of the world could work together to send that message to Pyongyang. Masumoto apologized for speaking out so strenuously on the U.S. delisting of North Korea, but reminded the Ambassador that he had been speaking on behalf of the families. Resolution of the issue, Hirata emphasized, means bringing back all of the victims, not just a few. ¶4. (C) At the end of the meeting, Mrs. Yokota stressed the importance to the families of obtaining any information regarding the location and condition of their relatives, no matter how small. She hoped that other countries would keep that in mind as well. Iizuka added that the groups are currently working with government officials in both Japan and Korea to facilitate better exchanges of information. ¶5. (C) The Ambassador noted his own disappointment with the lack of progress in resolving the fate of the abductees, and promised to emphasize the importance of the issue to his successor. He praised the abductee groups for keeping the issue in the forefront and ensuring that their relatives will never be forgotten. While conceding that he could not speak for the new administration, the Ambassador noted that President-elect Obama had used the occasion of delisting to highlight the abduction of an American of Korean descent, leading him to believe that the incoming administration will share President Bush's desire to ensure that no families will ever have to endure this kind of suffering again. He pledged his continuing support. ¶6. (C) The group spoke briefly with the press outside of the Embassy after the meeting, and officials from the Cabinet Secretariat planned to brief Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Abductions Kyoko Nakayama, currently in Washington, on the outcome of the meeting. The two abductee groups, along with a group of prefectural governors led by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara and Niigata Governor Izumida TOKYO 00000050 002.2 OF 002 have indicated their intention to forward separate petitions urging continued support on the abductions issue to the new U.S. administration shortly after January 20. All three groups had originally hoped to reach President-elect Barrack Obama prior to his inauguration, before realizing that he would be unlikely to see the documents in the few days remaining. SCHIEFFER