In October 1983, Takeshi Saito suddenly resigned from his job in a restaurant in Yokohama city — and promptly disappeared. His friends and family searched for Saito as best they could before reporting his disappearance to the police.

At some point later, it was decided that Saito fit the profile of the sort of person that North Korean agents were abducting to train their agents in the language and customs of Japan before they were infiltrated into society here.

For 35 years, nothing was officially heard of Saito, whose name and personal details were posted on a website operated by the National Police Agency. The list contained the names of no fewer than 880 Japanese nationals whose disappearance authorities believed could be linked to North Korea.

In April 2018, however, a body was discovered and police have since been able to confirm that it is that of Saito. Citing personal privacy laws, the authorities have declined to confirm where the body was discovered, how the victim died, or why it took them so long to confirm its identity.

The discovery has raised questions about the accuracy of the government's list of Japanese it believes were taken against their will to North Korea, and whether the 879 people presently on the list met their fate much closer to home.

Read more: Japanese parents continue quest for abducted daughter

Third 'missing person' to reappear

Saito is the third person, officially identified as a probable abductee, who has been discovered in Japan so far this year. In early September, a man who went missing in 1974 was confirmed to be safe and living in Japan. In May, police confirmed that a man from Chiba Prefecture, who was also on the list, was in Japan. Further details of the men's cases have not been released due to privacy restrictions.

Watch video 02:57 Share Radio show sends hope to Korea Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2nrQR Radio program broadcasts hope to Japanese in North Korea

Campaigners insist that the discovery of a number of apparent abductees within Japan will have no impact on their efforts to find out what happened to all those who remain missing.

"I am not convinced that Takeshi Saito's disappearance was related to North Korea, but I don't think that matters because it may have been," said Kazuhiro Araki, chairman of the Investigation Committee on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea.

Araki, who is also a professor of international relations at Takushoku University, suggests there are inconsistencies in the police report on Saito. He said the authorities' claim that there is no indication that Saito entered North Korea solely on the clothing that he was wearing, and the items he was carrying when the body was found, is meaningless.

Araki believes that the police just want to clear up outstanding cases and are failing to thoroughly investigate suspicious disappearances and deaths.

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, however, insists that it is still working hard to locate Japanese nationals who were abducted by North Korea and to bring home any who want to return.

Read more: UN probes North Korea's abductions of foreigners

Abe remains committed

On Monday, Abe reiterated that he remains committed to holding talks with Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, to resolve the issue of the missing Japanese nationals.

In a meeting with relatives of some of the missing persons, Abe said, "I will meet with Mr Kim without preconditions, and am determined to work towards an early resolution through sober analysis and by not missing any chances."

North Korea's history of taking US prisoners 'Crimes against the state' In 2016, US student Otto Warmbier was arrested for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster as a "trophy." He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for "crimes against the state." In June 2017, he was returned by North Korea to the US in a coma and died a week later. What happened to him in captivity is a mystery. His death prompted a ban on US citizens traveling to North Korea.

North Korea's history of taking US prisoners 'Subversion and espionage' Kim Dong Chul, a South Korea-born US citizen, was sentenced in 2015 to 10 years hard labor for "subversion and espionage" after North Korean officials said he received a USB stick containing nuclear-linked and military secrets from a South Korean source in North Korea. Chul was arrested while visiting the special economic zone of Rason. He remains imprisoned and his condition is unknown.

North Korea's history of taking US prisoners 'Trying to overthrow the regime' In 2013, North Korea sentenced US citizen Kenneth Bae to 15 years hard labor for "crimes against the state." He was arrested while on a tour group in the port city of Rason. A North Korean court described Bae as a militant Christian evangelist. He was allowed to talk to the media once, and said he was forced to work eight hours a day and was in poor health. Bae was released in November 2014.

North Korea's history of taking US prisoners 'Rash behavior' and 'hostile acts' In 2013, US citizen Matthew Miller was arrested when he arrived in Pyongyang and reportedly tore up his US passport, demanding asylum in North Korea. He was later sentenced to six years of hard labor on charges of espionage. The court said Miller had a "wild ambition" to experience prison life so that he could secretly investigate North Korea's human rights situation. He was released in 2014.

North Korea's history of taking US prisoners 'Criminal involved in killing civilians' In 2013, Merrill Newman an 85-year-old Korean War US Army veteran, was detained for one month in North Korea. Arrested as he was departing, he was accused of "masterminding espionage and subversive activities." He was freed after he expressed "sincere repentance" and read a statement that said he was "guilty of a long list of indelible crimes against the DPRK government and Korean people."

North Korea's history of taking US prisoners Freed by a diplomatic gesture US journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling were captured in 2009 after briefly entering North Korea to report on refugees. After a month in confinement, they were sentenced to 12 years hard labor for "illegal entry and "hostile acts." Two months later, after former US President Bill Clinton met with former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, the two women were pardoned and freed. Author: Wesley Rahn



Officially, the Japanese government lists 17 citizens who were definitely abducted by North Korea between 1977 and 1983. In 2002, then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il admitted for the first time that his regime had abducted 13 Japanese and permitted five to return to Japan. The rest, Kim stated, had died of illness or in accidents, while the four other citizens on the Japanese government list had never entered North Korea.

Relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang have deteriorated since that meeting and North Korea has since refused to provide more information on missing Japanese or to hold talks about their fates.

Read more: What's next for Japan's forgotten prisoners in North Korea?

Need to re-examine disappearances

Stephen Nagy, a senior associate professor of international relations at Tokyo's International Christian University, says there is a need for Japanese authorities to re-examine individual cases of missing citizens to confirm that there is no suggestion that they are still in Japan.

"I believe there is broad sympathy in the international community for the fact that many Japanese were taken against their will to North Korea in the 1970s and 80s," he told DW.

"It is, of course, somewhat problematic because it is virtually impossible for Japan to know for sure how many were abducted by the North's agents, and how many disappeared here in Japan."

"It is important that the authorities here are continuously reviewing the date on the people they think were abducted, as well as those who were tricked in the 1950s into going to what they were told was a 'socialist paradise' but who want to return to Japan now," said Nagy.

Read more: North Korea: US 'fighting' for release of American prisoners