Sin Guang Su (left) and Choe Sung Chol、wanted by the Japanese government for abducting four Japanese nationals

The action comes after police obtained arrest warrants Feb. 23 for Sin Guang Su and Choe Sung Chol.

But diplomatic sources said North Korea is unlikely to meet the demand, particularly for Sin, who is considered a national hero because of his unstinting loyalty to Pyongyang during his 15 years of detention as a spy in South Korea.

The four abductees returned to Japan in 2002.

A Japanese summary court issued the warrant for Sin, 76, on suspicion of abducting Yasushi Chimura, 50, and his wife, Fukie, 50, from Obama, Fukui Prefecture, on July 7, 1978.

Sin is also suspected of kidnapping Tadaaki Hara, who was 43 when he disappeared from the coast of Aoshima in 1980. Hara is still missing, and North Korea says there is no record of him ever being in the country.

The Niigata District Court meanwhile issued the warrant for Choe, whose age, exact identity and other details remain unknown, on suspicion of abducting Kaoru Hasuike, 48, and his wife, Yukiko, 49, from Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, on July 31 of that year.

Fukui Prefectural Police obtained the warrant for Sin while Niigata Prefectural Police obtained the one for Choe.

Sin was arrested in South Korea in 1985 on suspicion of spying for Pyongyang and later sentenced to death. He was released in December 1999 under an amnesty granted by President Kim Dae-jung.

Japanese police put Choe on the international wanted list under the surname "Pak" in 1985, suspecting him of involvement in spying by passing himself off as Kenzo Kozumi, a man who was born in 1933 and who disappeared around 1961.

The move to pursue the arrest of the two is apparently part of Japan's strategy of applying pressure on the North for concessions on the abductions while holding out the possibility of better ties if it cooperates.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 4, 2006
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