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June 28, 2005
3 more, including 4-yr-old boy, listed as suspected abductees
Posted by THINK at 01:33 PM
June 26, 2005
I sat in
On Saturday, June 25, I sat in from 2 PM to 5 PM. Sitting quietly in front of Diet members' office buildings in central Tokyo were people of all ages and professions. Everyone gathered for just one aim: to get every single victim of abduction by North Korea back to their homes in Japan.
Family members of the victims went from one end of the line to the other, thanking the participants for their support. In the 30+C (90+F) summer heat, they looked so small and old. Many of them are in their 70's and 80's. How long more would they have to wait to see their kidnapped children again? Would they be around when and if finally the victims come back?
We don't have much time.
-- Editor-in-chief, THINK
I sat here on the pavement with 400+ people appealing to cars and people passing by. (Photograph courtesy of Mr. Mizunoo of Protect X website)
Posted by THINK at 02:58 AM
June 25, 2005
Relatives of Japanese Abductees Begin Sit-In
VOA News
Yahoo! News (AP) ("Families of Japanese abductees start sit-in protest, demanding sanctions on North Korea")
BBC NEWS ("N Korea kidnap families protest")
Yahoo! News (Kyodo) ("Abductee families stage sit-in outside Koizumi's official residence")
World Peace Herald (UPI) ("Protesters urge sanctions against N.Korea")
Mainichi Daily News ("Abductees' families demand sanctions against Pyongyang")
Daily Yomiuri On-Line ("Sit-in begins over inaction on abductees")
The Japan Times Online (AP/Kyodo) ("Pyongyang abductee kin stage sit-in for sanctions")
Dr. Norbert Vollertsen, German doctor and activist who has personally witnessed reality in North Korea, and twin brothers of abductee Megumi Yokota in sit-in.
Supporters from across Japan in the sit-in line. More than 300 gathered on the first day.
(Photographs courtesy of Mr. Yamamoto of Denno-Hokanroku website)
Posted by THINK at 12:50 AM
June 24, 2005
Sit-in to be held in front of PM's Office: June 24-26
Kazoku Kai (Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea) and Sukuukai (National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea) will hold a sit-in near the Prime Minister's Office to demand economic sanctions against North Korea. Details are as follows:
[Date/time]
.. Friday, June 24: 10 AM- 3 PM
.. Saturday, June 25: 1 PM-5 PM
.. Sunday, June 26: 1 PM-5 PM
.. (& public meetings at Seiryo Kaikan on Sat and Sun at 6 PM )
[Place]
.. Near the PM's Official Residence (In front of the
.. Diet Member's Office Building),
.. Subway Kokkai Gijido and Nagatacho stations
.. [map]
Family members and support group members will gather from across Japan and take part in the sit-in. Anyone can drop by and quietly join the action. Come and show that you care!
--Editor-in-chief, THINK
----------
Background Reading:
"On 24 June 2005, a three day "sit-in" will commence in front of the offices of the Japanese Prime Minister, organized not by a radical leftist group but by some of Japan's most famous and respected citizens and enjoying powerful backing in the National Diet and media, to demand the imposition of immediate economic sanctions against North Korea. Only by such means, the organizers argue, can North Korea be forced to return Japanese citizens they believe are still being held in North Korea against their will. As of that date, it will be six months since Prime Minister Koizumi declared, in December 2004, that the explanation thus far offered of the abductions by North Korea was unsatisfactory and false, in particular that the cremated human remains offered as evidence of the death of the most famous of the abductee victims, Yokota Megumi (on whom see below), were in fact not hers. The Japanese government therefore and promised "stern measures" unless Pyongyang responded "promptly and sincerely" to set matters right, and the sit-in will demand immediate recourse to these "stern" measures. More than five million people have signed a petition to that effect, and a meeting in Tokyo's Hibiya in April 2005 to promote this cause drew 6,000 people. The leaders, including the parents of Yokota Megumi, are household figures, regulars on major television channels. Their patience is exhausted, they say, and their anger at Koizumi's refusal to do as they demand, or even to meet with them and hear their demands, is at high pitch. If still not satisfied, they promise to renew their "sit-in" in July and subsequent months, and to expand it around the country."
(by Gavan McCormack, Znet, June 13, 2005. [Full text])
Posted by THINK at 04:18 AM
June 23, 2005
Former U.S. sergeant who deserted to N. Korea heads back to Japan
Former U.S. sergeant who deserted to N. Korea heads back to Japan
Kyodo News - Story (" Jenkins, Soga return to Japan after weeklong visit to U.S.")
Raleigh News & Observer ("Editorials: Jenkins goes 'home'")
Posted by THINK at 12:28 AM
June 21, 2005
Jenkins calls N. Korean leader Kim 'evil man'
Yahoo! News (Kyodo)
Raleigh News & Observer ("Jenkins apologizes for desertion")
Kyodo ("FOCUS: Jenkins, Soga leave unanswered questions behind in U.S.")
MSNBC.com (AP) ("Army deserter Jenkins apologizes -- 'I let my soldiers down,' he says at end of U.S. visit")
CBS News (AP) ("U.S. Army Deserter: I Was Wrong")
Posted by THINK at 02:37 AM
Campion Making Documentary About NK Abduction
Posted by THINK at 02:04 AM
June 16, 2005
Army Deserter Tours N.C. Hometown -- Defector met with indifference from staunch military community
Roanoke Daily Herald ("Japanese press focus on wife and not Jenkins")
KYODO NEWS("Scope: Jenkins' return to hometown triggers debate among residents")
Charlotte Observer (Raleigh News & Observer) ("Reporters follow deserter's wife to N.C. -- Jenkins considered bit player in tale of woman abducted by N. Korea")
Japan Today (Kyodo) ("Soga's saga captivates some in rural North�Carolina")
Posted by THINK at 06:26 PM
June 15, 2005
Jenkins happy to be home after 40-year absence
KYODO NEWS
Reuters.com ("Army deserter visits family in U.S. after 40 years")
San Francisco Chronicle (AP) ("Army Deserter Back in U.S. 40 Years Later")
The Times ("US deserter home after 40 years")
Japan Today (Kyodo) ("Jenkins reunited with mother after more than 40� years")
asahi.com ("Army deserter Jenkins meets mother for first time in 40 years")
Daily Yomiuri On-Line ("Jenkins reunited with mom")
Posted by THINK at 01:03 PM
June 13, 2005
Disputed Bones: Japan-North Korea Clash
Posted by THINK at 11:30 PM
N. Korea raps Japanese magazine report saying Yokota still alive
Yahoo! News (Kyodo)
Korean News (Korean Central News Agency of DPRK) ("KCNA Blasts Japan's Despicable Political Plot")
Posted by THINK at 11:22 PM
Jenkins family leaves for U.S.
Japan Today
Mainichi Daily News ("Jenkins leaves Sado for reunion with mother in US")
MSNBC (AP) ("Feelings mixed in army deserter's hometown")
Guardian Unlimited ("US sergeant who fled to North Korea returns home for first visit in 40 years")
The Daily Dispatch (North Carolina) ("Protests of defector would be needless, petty")
CNN.com ("Deserter Jenkins leaves for U.S.")
asahi.com ("Jenkins family flies to U.S.")
Posted by THINK at 11:20 PM
June 12, 2005
Jenkins thanks public, but asks media for some peace
The Japan Times Online
Yahoo! News (Kyodo) ("Jenkins to make weeklong visit to U.S. to meet mother")
Bloomberg.com ("U.S. Deserter to N. Korea to Visit Family After 40 Years Away")
Times Argus (Raleigh News & Observer ) ("Deserter's hometown divided about his visit")
Posted by THINK at 03:31 PM
June 08, 2005
Army deserter Jenkins to visit U.S. soon
Yahoo! News (AP) ("Army Deserter May Make First Trip to U.S.")
CNN.com ("Deserter Jenkins may visit U.S.")
Japan Today (Kyodo) ("Jenkins to visit U.S. next week to see mother")
Washington Times (UPI) ("Army deserter Jenkins to visit U.S.")
Daily Yomiuri On-Line ("Jenkins to visit mom in U.S. for 1st time")
The Japan Times Online ("Jenkins due to fly to U.S. to visit mom next week")
asahi.com ("Jenkins, Soga to visit his mother in the U.S.")
Posted by THINK at 03:07 PM
June 03, 2005
Aussie doco to get workout in US -- "Yukai!"
On Melissa Kyu-Jung Lee's "Yukai!"
Australian Film Commission News&Events ("Sundance Institute selects doco for Edit Lab" with comments from Lee)
Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program
Eight Gauge Productions
Posted by THINK at 12:15 PM