Eighty Percent of Japanese Agree to Economic Sanctions on N. Korea

Eighty Percent of Japanese Agree to Economic Sanctions on N. Korea. November. 15, 2004 23:07. by Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com.

Eight out of 10 Japanese people think that they should implement economic sanctions if the North Korea-Japan working-level talks produce no advancements in solving the problem of Japanese abductees in North Korea.

According to a public poll administered by the Sankei Shimbun on 500 residents in the capital and its surrounding areas on November 15, 79.4 percent of the respondents answered that “economic sanctions should be imposed,” to the question whether or not economic sanctions should be implemented if the talks do not advance. Only 15.4 percent answered that “we should not.”

Meanwhile, the Japanese delegation for the talks returned to Japan from North Korea that day after completing talks in Pyongyang carrying records related to missing Japanese that they secured in North Korea.

It was known that the delegation was handed hospital records, skeletal remains, and testimonials from the North that can be used to trace the death and living of certain abductees like Yokoda Megumi, who was reported dead.