Taken! North Korea’s Criminal Abduction of Citizens of Other Countries By Yoshi Yamamoto Principal Researcher The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea 1 Officers and Board of Directors, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea May 12, 2011 (Affiliations provided solely for identification) Copyright © 2011 by the Committee for Stephen J. Solarz (1940-2010) Nicholas Eberstadt Human Rights in North Korea Former Co-chairman Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute Former Member, U. S. House of Representatives L. Gordon Flake Richard V. Allen Executive Director, Maureen and Mike Mansfield All Rights Reserved Co-chairman, Foundation, Former National Security Advisor Printed in the United States of America Carl Gershman Roberta Cohen President, National Endowment for Democracy ISBN 978-0-9771111-3-8 Co-Vice-chair, Library of Congress Control Number: 2011907022 Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution Fred C. Iklé Former Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) and for- Suzanne Scholte mer Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Co-Vice-chair, Photo Credits: p. 10: Korean War Abductees Families Union Chairman, North Korea Freedom Coalition Steve Kahng (KWAFU); p. 15: KWAFU; p. 22: Asahi Shimbun; p. 23: Tottori General Partner, 4C Ventures, Inc. Prefecture website; p. 24: NARKN-Gunma; p. 25: Daily NK; p. Helen-Louise Hunter 26: Japan News Network; p. 26: Hisayoshi Iwahashi (Sumoto City Secretary, David L. Kim Councilmember); p. 36: MSNBC; p. 44: Google Earth, Curtis Attorney and author The Asia Foundation Melvin NKEconwatch; p. 60: Daily NK; p. 63: Daily NK; p. 69: Kino Chuck Downs Katrina Lantos Swett International; p. 83: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/pacy-mizu/m/200605; Executive Director p. 88: NARKN-Gunma; p. 89: Sankei Shimbun; p. 90: Asia-Pacific President, Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice Journal; p. 95: Kyoto Shimbun; p. 97: The White House; p. 102: Morton Abramowitz NARKN; p. 116: Epoch Times; p. 122: Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Fellow, the Century Foundation Thai Lee President, CEO, SHI International Corp. Jaehoon Ahn TAKEN! Former Director of the Korea Service, Radio Free Asia Debra Liang-Fenton North Korea’s Criminal Abduction Former Executive Director, Committee for Human Jerome Cohen Of Citizens of Other Countries Rights in North Korea Of Counsel (Retired Partner) Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP Winston Lord Former Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Lisa Colacurcio Advisor, Developing World Markets Andrew Natsios Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown Univer- Rabbi Abraham Cooper sity, Former Administrator, USAID Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center Committee for Human Rights in North Korea 1725 Eye (I) Street, NW, Suite 300 Marcus Noland Jack David Peterson Institute for International Economics Washington, DC 20006 USA Senior Fellow and Trustee, Hudson Institute Richard S. Williamson John Despres Former Ambassador to the United Nations and to Consultant, international financial and strategic affairs the UN Commission on Human Rights, and Special Donations to the Committee are tax-deductible Envoy to Sudan Paula Dobriansky Former Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs 2 3 Acknowledgments talents that far exceed their youth and their nascent professional experience. The legal analysis in chapter 7 is the generous contribution of attorneys at This study owes a great deal to the dedication and hard work of many people DLA Piper law firm, primarily the renowned human rights attorney Jared Genser too numerous to list. The Committee for Human Rights had the support of a major and his colleague Kristen Abrams. The Committee is very grateful for the law firm’s private foundation that prefers not to be mentioned by name, and its support made constant support of our efforts over the years. this extensive research project possible. No funds from any government were used Law students David Park and David Moon provided valuable suggestions in the preparation of this report; we benefitted from a number of generous private in drafts of the legal analysis and recommendations. Nicholas Craft, a Washington- donors, some of whom are members of our Board, but many of whom are not. based attorney who volunteered to work with our office in the final weeks of this The Committee sought to present in English a comprehensive report study, provided careful review of portions of the report that deal with legal issues that takes into account all known information about North Korea’s abductions and initiated an investigation into a very significant disappearance that may yet be and the circumstances facing the abductees in North Korea. The Committee was revealed to have been a North Korean abduction. very fortunate to be able to engage as the principal researcher and author of the Others have served in many ways to facilitate the work of the Committee. initial draft, Mr. Yoshi Yamamoto, who had in-depth knowledge of the issue from Under the leadership of Heesug Chung, Christopher Kim, and Haesun Jang, these years of working with the abductees’ families organizations in Japan and from the interns included Purun Cheong, Chan Yang Choi, Isaiah Joo, Phil Kang, Andrew breadth of his own academic accomplishments. Without his knowledge of the Kim, Min-kyu Kim, Sahrang Kim, Ali Nahm, and Narai Yim. available information, most of which is published only in Korean and Japanese, and Many U. S. Government experts contributed their own time and effort in his familiarity with and access to the research of experts like Tsutomu Nishioka, substantial ways to suggest improvements and expand certain parts of the report. Yoichi Shimada, and Kazhiro Araki, this report could not have been as thorough Primary among them was Mr. An Hong, who helped with extensive translations, and as well-documented. Recognizing that the abductions involve many nations, in shared his recollections of his work with Choi Un-hee and Shin Sang-ok, brought addition to Japan, the Committee sent Mr. Yamamoto to Seoul with a very capable our attention to the case of the attempted abduction in Zagreb, and provided many translator and analyst, Christopher M. J. Kim, to conduct interviews there. Their other contributions. The analysis of the organizational structure of the Departments efforts were later supplemented by the expert assistance of Mr. Robert Collins, an of North Korea that have conducted abductions benefitted from the review and American whose knowledge of North Korean politics and proficiency in the Korean guidance of a North Korean defector, a permanent Non-Resident fellow of the language permits him to engage in in-depth discussions with defectors and conduct Committee, Mr. Kim Kwangjin, and a number of American experts. research in major Korean archives. Japanese Government officials from a wide range of political backgrounds, As a result of the involvement of many skilled linguists, this report delves into especially in the Abduction Affairs office and the Diet, generously provided their time areas that are seldom explored in the context of the abduction issue: the abductions and expertise during numerous meetings. No official of any government deserves of talented and skilled professionals from South Korea during the Korean War, the greater credit than Takashi Minami, whose attention to detail and dedication to the so-called “rescues” of fishermen on the high seas, the luring of Korean residents truth provides an energetic flow of information and advice that the world needs to in Japan to North Korea, and the sequence of violent and cunning abductions of know about North Korean practices. individuals from fourteen different nationalities over a number of decades. The role Over the years, the effort to uncover the truth about abductions has attracted of interns Caleb Dependahl and Kazunori Koyama in bringing the facts to light by the devotion of thousands of advocates for the missing and their families. In the comparing Japanese, Chinese, English, and Korean sources was especially important United States, their efforts gained expression in a masterful film, “ABDUCTION: to locating key places identified in various memoirs. The Story of Megumi Yokota” by Chris Sheridan and Patty Kim. Opening in theaters A number of highly talented interns have volunteered to work with the across the U. S. almost five years before this report was written, they successfully Committee while they pursue academic studies in Washington. Three who had focused American attention on a crime that is very difficult to comprehend and superb editorial abilities—Jason Keller, Samantha Letizia, and Harald Olsen, explain. greatly enhanced the style and accuracy of this report. Even this sincere mention Perhaps the most extraordinary assistance donated to this effort was that of of the Committee’s appreciation of their efforts does not do justice to the profound Curtis Melvin. His genius in mapping every inch of North Korea through publicly contributions of these dedicated, hard-working young people. Nicholas Rodman, available satellite images has led to the discovery of places where abductees have Joohee Kim, and Su Park kept track of and explored many critical research been employed and housed. This is critical information that we can all hope will requirements that were developed in the process of putting the report together. prove valuable in their rescue. Hannah Barker’s highly talented graphic artistic skills enhance the pages of this Chuck Downs report, and are demonstrated in the design of its cover. All of these individuals have Executive Director, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea May 2011 4 5 A Note About Names as Represented in this Report Table of Contents Chinese, Korean and Japanese traditional conventions dictate that the surname precedes the given name, and this sequence has been followed in this 9 Introduction report for Chinese and Korean names. Korean names are generally of three syllables and there is a great deal of individuality in how they are presented in English, in 14 Chapter 1: terms of spelling, hyphenation, and capitalization.