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

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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

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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