JCP Ichida: Seek truth of abductees and normalize relations with North Korea

The Japanese government on October 2 published a report of the government fact-finding team on Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, identifying five abductees who were announced to be alive in the Japan-North Korea Summit Talks. The deaths of the eight missing abductees were not confirmed, the report said. Deputy Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzo, who published the result to the press, stated that the government will to keep on investigating.

On the same day, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi commented on the government team report.

He said, "The investigation result can be a first step toward unraveling the truth of the abductions. The JCP calls on the government to continue efforts to get all facts surrounding the abductions revealed while seeking progress in the normalization talks with North Korea on the basis of the Pyongyang Declaration by Japan and North Korea." (end)