Shinzo Abe’s executive will continue tourist and commercial embargo against Pyongyang for "at least another two years,". At the center of the dispute are Japanese citizens kidnapped in the 70s and 80s, whose fate remains unknown.

Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Japanese government has announced that it will extend the sanctions against the regime of North Korea for "at least another two years".

According to the government headed by Shinzo Abe "no progress was made on the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang, and for this we have no choice." The reference is to Japanese who disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s, and who according to Tokyo were kidnapped by the Kim government to train North Korean spies in Japanese language and culture.

The dispute has gone on for years. The North Korean regime claims to have sent home all Japanese still living on their territory, but the Japanese government believes that this is a lie. Public opinion supports the position of Tokyo, given the high emotional charge that these kidnappings have generated over time.

The sanctions imposed by Japan are separate from those decided by the international community after the regime’s nuclear tests. They provide for a "total ban" on travel and money transfers to and from North Korea, and the prohibition for North Korean ships to dock in Japanese ports. In May 2014 the two governments agreed to resume official talks on the issue, and in July of the same year Tokyo relaxed the punitive measures. But since then there has been no substantial progress

• JAPAN
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• NORTH
• KOREA
• sanctions
• kidnapp
• regime
• kim