Japan's missing children: The lingering trauma of North Korean abductions
In the 1970s and 1980s, North Korea organised a kidnapping campaign in "enemy" countries. As one of its closest neighbours, Japan became a prime target. The programme, decided at the highest level of the Communist state, was likely intended to train North Korean spies in foreign languages and customs. It was a long wait until 2002, when the dictatorship in Pyongyang officially recognised some of the kidnappings. FRANCE 24's Louis Belin, Philippe Chambret, Constantin Simon and Aruna Popuri went to the Japanese city of Niigata, where a teenage girl was abducted in 1977.
In the 1970s and 1980s, North Korea organised a kidnapping campaign in "enemy" countries. As one of its closest neighbours, Japan became a prime target. The programme, decided at the highest level of the Communist state, was likely intended to train North Korean spies in foreign languages and customs. It was a long wait until 2002, when the dictatorship in Pyongyang officially recognised some of the kidnappings. FRANCE 24's Louis Belin, Philippe Chambret, Constantin Simon and Aruna Popuri went to the Japanese city of Niigata, where a teenage girl was abducted in 1977.
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