North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens

Referred to in Japan usually short as Rachi Mondai (拉 致 问题, " abduction issue " or " abduction issue " ) - - The abductions of Japanese citizens by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is one of the major media issues in Japan and a major point of since the return of some displaced person in 2004 Japanese foreign policy in the context of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. Especially the case of Megumi Yokota student had a great deal of media resonance. She was kidnapped in 1977 at the age of 13 years and may have committed suicide in 1994.

From 1977 to 1983 North Korean agents abducted at least 13 Japanese to North Korea. The main reason was that the isolated North Korea human need, the language and culture of the important neighboring country (and potential enemy ) Japan taught the North Koreans. So the Niigata Prefecture were preferring younger Japanese picked arbitrarily by North Korean shock troops especially on the North Korea nearby coast. Often the only criterion for their selection was that they had just stopped easily accessible at the beach.