Kidnapping of Japanese citizens by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

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The kidnappings of Japanese citizens by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - in Japan usually referred to as Rachi Mondai ( 拉 致 致 , "kidnapping problem " or "kidnapping question") - have been one of the major media topics in Japan since the return of some abductees in 2004 and an important point of Japanese foreign policy in the context of the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program. The case of the student Megumi Yokota in particular received a great deal of media attention. She was abducted in 1977 at the age of 13 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 isolated North Korea needed people who could teach the North Koreans the language and culture of important neighboring (and potential enemy) Japan. Especially on the coast of Niigata Prefecture, which is close to North Korea, younger Japanese were picked up at will by North Korean raiders. Often the only criterion for their selection was that they had just been on the beach within easy reach.

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