North Koreans bring South Korea and Japan together (sort of)

A Japanese government report has concluded that the husband of Megumi Yokota, a Japanese national kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977 when she was just thirteen, was not a North Korean agent as Pyongyang had claimed.

Rather, her husband was a South Korean who was also abducted by the North [update to story found here]. Megumi Yokota's tragic life reportedly ended when she committed suicide in 1994. Identification of her remains turned into a major sore point in Japan after Pyongyang admitted having kidnapped her and said they were sending back her remains, but a lab in Japan said they were not Ms. Yokota's. Her now elderly parents and her two adult younger brothers, not to mention millions in Japan, hold out hope that Ms. Yokota might actually still be alive.

The Japanese government obtained DNA samples from Kim Hyegyong, Ms. Yokota's daughter, during an interview in Pyongyang in 2002. Japan also collected DNA samples from the relatives of five South Korean men allegedly abducted by North Korea to see if any of them matched the DNA of Yokota's daughter.

The Japanese government reportedly is discussing with South Korea when they will make a formal announcement of their findings. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if the Roh administration tries to downplay this or ignore it, for fear of upsetting Pyongyang. However, to be fair, previous administrations and regimes in Seoul really were no more proactive on the issue of abducted ROK citizens either.