|
¡°Americans know a lot about the situation in Sudan's Darfur region, but they know little about the fact that North Korea has kidnapped more than 80,000 civilians around the world, which is more serious than the situation in Darfur. I want to let Americans know what Kim Jong-il has done by calling out the names of victims."
Izumi Asano is the man behind an event to call out the names of all victims, including 83,000 South Koreans abducted during the Korean War alone.
It started on Sunday in front of the White House and will last until Sept. 5. The Chosun Ilbo met with Asano, who is the president of Rescuing Abductees Center for Hope, and his wife Akemi Maeshima, at their home in Rockville, Maryland on Aug. 23.
 |
Izumi Asano watches a volunteer calling out the names of South Koreans abducted by North Korea since the Korean War at the start of a non-stop reading by activists of the names of all 83,000 abdcution victims that will take four days. Asano is the organizer of the event, which started in Washington on Sunday.
|
 |
|
"We have prepared the event since May by checking the list of abduction victims," Asano said. "We will call out the names in alphabetical order nonstop for 24 hours a day, no matter what the weather. We have notified Lafayette Park of our assembly on condition that we don¡¯t use speakers, don¡¯t put blankets or lie on the ground from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m."
The long list of victims will be read by some 30 volunteers. "If participants want, we plan to involve them in calling out the names,¡± Asano said. The list was compiled with the help of the Citizens¡¯ Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees and some Japanese organizations.
"We estimate that approximately 85,000 civilians from 11 countries including South Korea, China, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Romania and Thailand have been abducted to North Korea.¡± The activists want members in six-nation talks on the North¡¯s nuclear program dispatch a special team to North Korea to investigate the issue.
Asano became involved after his cousin Takashi Ozawa, a government official in Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture went missing presumed kidnapped by North Korea in 1974. Asano moved to the U.S. in 1984 and works as an accountant. He established the Rescuing Abductees Center for Hope in 2005 and has engaged in a variety of activities.
Asked, "Should the abductees issue be dealt with in the second inter-Korean summit slated for October?", he answered, "Of course, I think so. But it may not be dealt with at the upcoming summit."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
