Letter to Mr Eric Illsley MP and Mr Greg
Pope MP from the Prime Minister
Thank you for your letter of 11 June regarding
relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea.
I am aware that the issue of abductees remains
extremely emotive in Japan and is very distressing for the abductees
and their families to whom I extend my heartfelt sympathy and
respect. We continue to support Japanese efforts to resolve the
issue and welcome the outcome of recent talks in Beijing when
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea agreed to reopen the
investigation into the matter. The issue of abductees is referred
to in the UK-Japan Joint Statement of January 2007 which Prime
Minister Fukuda and I reaffirmed during our meeting on 2 June
2008.
Your letter states that the families you met
were concerned that the Six Party Talks on nuclear issues would
move forward without progress on the abductees issue. The UK is
not a member of the Six Party Talks process although we follow
developments closely. We support the process as the principle
mechanism for denuclearising the Korean Peninsula, however we
also attach importance to Japanese concerns over abductees. We
support recent US statements by President Bush and Secretary of
State Rice that the abductees issue will not be forgotten.
The EU, including the UK, will continue to press
hard for an improvement in the human rights situation in North
Korea. The abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea represents
a particularly terrible abuse of human rights. I assure you that
we shall continue to press the North Korean regime on this and
other aspects of its human rights record.
11 August 2008
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