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发表于 2011-11-17 08:45:58
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Japan deserves detailed explanation from Pyongyang on true fate of Megumi
For the first time in 22 years, the Japanese national soccer team faced the North Korean team in Pyongyang. I was overwhelmed by the regimented roar of 50,000 North Korean fans that filled Kim Il Sung Stadium. The yelling that drowned out the playing of "Kimigayo" was a mass of voices. For the Japanese team, it was a "completely away-from-home" match.
Surrounded by an ocean of North Koreans clad in red, the tiny blue boat of 150 Japanese supporters remained still, as if frozen. Even though the North Koreans were reduced to 10 men in the latter half of the match, the Samurai Blue, perplexed by the strange atmosphere and artificial turf, which they are not used to, lost to North Korea 1-0, putting an end to the unbeaten streak under Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni.
I hear that in Pyongyang, where only select people live, those who can go to soccer games belong to the privileged class.Every time the camera zoomed in on the spectators, the face of one lady crossed my mind. I have seen many photographs of her as a girl. I only know her gentle smile as an adult. She would be 47 years old now. Having weathered hardships, her face must have a melancholic look.
Nov. 15 marked the 34th anniversary of Megumi Yokota's abduction by North Korean agents. While the North Korean side claims she committed suicide when she was 29, reports and eyewitness accounts of sightings point to her survival show Pyongyang's insincerity on the issue. It is time for the Japanese government to use every conceivable channel to demand a more detailed explanation from Pyongyang.
Japanese citizens who joined a tour to watch the soccer match in the North Korean capital may have experienced a lack of freedom during their stay. But Megumi must have felt isolated and alienated myriad times more. With no diplomatic relations, Tokyo and Pyongyang are unable to freely talk with each other. Even though the two countries are distant in that sense, the live soccer broadcast showed how close they really are. The families of abductees must have watched the game with chagrin.
Reports of the first snow of the season from northern Japan have been heard later than in average years. The winter in Pyongyang, which will be covered by the same Siberian air mass, is expected to be colder than usual. I want to at least picture Megumi in a warm, comfortable room in a high-rise apartment building as she thinks about her parents from afar.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 16 |
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