Shigeo Iizuka, who until a week ago led a group of family members waging a decades-long campaign for the return of loved ones abducted by North Korea, died on December 18. Iizuka joined the group after a landmark meeting in Pyongyang in 2002 between prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in which the reclusive regime admitted to having seized Yaeko Taguchi, Iizuka's younger sister.
In a statement released December 18th, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said I offer my deepest apology for the extreme regret of not being able to bring back Yaeko Taguchi to Japan for a reunion while he was still alive. Matsuno serves as the state minister in charge of the abduction issue.
Iizuka stepped down as head of the family group on December 11, citing ill health. He was replaced by Takuya Yokota, 53, a twin younger brother of Megumi Yokota, a symbolic figure of the abduction issue.
Iizuka expressed frustration in recent months at the lack of progress in resolving the abduction issue and his failing health.
Since we began our activities, there has been an uncountable number of changes in prime ministers and state ministers in charge of the abduction issue, yet almost no progress has been made in the meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in October.
At a news conference, Iizuka acknowledged that there was nothing he could do about his failing health. Iizuka pledged to never give up at a gathering of the group in November.
Taguchi vanished in 1978 when she was 22, leaving behind two young children. Iizuka adopted Taguchi's son, Koichiro, who was just 16 months old at the time. He is now 44 and serves as secretary-general of the family group.
Koichiro released a statement on December 18 that said Iizuka must have been bitterly disappointed at never being reunited with his younger sister.
In 1991, Japanese police announced that Taguchi, using the Korean name Lee Un Hae, taught the Japanese language to Kim Hyon Hui, the North Korean spy responsible for the bombing of a Korean Air passenger jet in 1987.
North Korean officials said Taguchi had died in an automobile accident in 1986, and Koizumi and Kim Jong Il were in a meeting in 2002. Iizuka found inconsistencies in the explanation given by Pyongyang and continued to work for her return.
Iizuka took over as head of the family group Abductees in 2007 from Shigeru Yokota, Megumi's father. Iizuka spoke about the abduction issue not only in forums across Japan, but also overseas, including at the United Nations.
In 2009, Iizuka and his adopted son met Kim Hyon Hui in South Korea.
The Japanese government suspects that as many as 17 of its nationals were spirited to North Korea in the 1970s and 80s to teach Japanese language, customs and culture to North Korean spies.