Rescue Abductees 救う会 全国協議会

The Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea (AFVKN: “The Families’ Association”) and the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea (NARKN: “Rescue Abductees”) surveyed candidates for the Japanese general election held last Sunday, August 30, on their stance on the abduction issue. The survey was sent to all 1374 candidates prior to the election.

77.4% of the 1374 candidates and 80.6% of the elected candidates responded to our survey. The same numbers four years ago were 76.1% and 79.1%. The high response rate reflects the high interest to the abduction issue among the Japanese.
The results for each question are as follows.

Most candidates support full-scale sanction on North Korea.

Q1: Do you believe that the abduction issue is one of national priorities?
95.1% of the elected respondents (368 out of 387) and 87.3% of all respondents agreed that the abduction issue is a national priority. The results show that many beyond party lines agree that the abduction is a national priority.

Percentage of elected respondents that believe the abduction issue is a national priority by party affiliation is as follows:

LDP 99.0%
DPJ 96.0%
New Komei 100%
Communist Party 11.1%

Only one elected candidate said no (0.2%). One LDP, nine DPJ and eight Communist Party members checked the “others” box.

Q2. North Korea unilaterally breached the promise made in August 2008 that they would reinvestigate the whereabouts of the abductees. Moreover, North Korea continued nuclear testing and fired missiles. In response to this situation, the Family Association and Rescue Abductees called for a full-scale sanction against North Korea to stop the flow of money, goods and people between Japan and North Korea to rescue the abductees. Do you support such full-scale sanction?

63.3% of elected respondents (245 out of 387) and 67.2% of all respondents said they support such a sanction. This proves that majority of respondents support a full-scale sanction as called for by our organizations. After a number of limited sanctions to North Korea, we have demanded the government for a tougher sanction stopping all flow of money, goods and people going into North Korea. We feel confident that support for such sanction is gathering. Many comments under the “others” indicated support for additional sanction, instead of a full-scale sanction.

Percentage of elected respondents that support full-scale sanction by party affiliation is as follows:
LDP 74.5%
DPJ 61.7%
New Komei Party 64.3% *More than two-thirds of elected respondents in the 3 major parties support full-scale sanction.

Five DPJ, one LDP, eight Communist Party, and three Social Democratic Party were against further sanction.

Q3. Headquarters for the Abduction Issue was established in inside the Japanese government in 2006 following our strong request for such government structure. The Headquarter assumes that all victims of abduction are still alive, secures safety and repatriates all victims, and demands that resolution of this issue be a prerequisite of Japan and North Korea normalization. Do you agree to the Headquarter’s stance on this issue?

95.1% of the elected respondents and 94.0% of all respondents agreed to these policies. Presumption that all victims are still alive, repatriation of the victims, and full resolution of the abduction issue as prerequisite for normalization are the Family Association and Rescue Abductees’ most important claims against North Korea. The North Korean government attempted to put an end to this issue by returning just five of the victims and claiming the rest of the victims are dead. We believe that this survey result reflects strong support from the Japanese people to our claims. It also proves that many respondents across party-lines and now in government also share our views.

Percentage of elected respondents that agree with our main claims by party affiliation is as follows:

LDP 98.0%
DPJ 95.2%
New Komei Party 100% *Almost all elected candidates in the three major parties are in line with our stance toward the abduction issue.

One DPJ and three Social Democratic Party members disagreed with our stance.