NEW YORK – The United States is urging North Korea to release all abducted Japanese citizens and other detained nationals and allow them to leave the country, US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said yesterday.
“Abducting citizens of Japan and other nations and forcibly keeping them against their will in North Korea is simply wrong. It is outrageous. And it cannot continue,” Thomas-Greenfield said during a United Nations symposium on the issue, reported Sputnik.
Thomas-Greenfield said the United States stands in solidarity with the Japanese people against such illegal actions.
“We call on North Korea to release these individuals and allow them to leave North Korea,” she said.
Thomas-Greenfield added that the United States will continue to work closely with its allies to resolve the abductions and other human rights violations perpetrated by North Korea.
Japan has said North Korea abducted 17 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2002, North Korea admitted its agents had abducted 13 Japanese citizens but denied involvement in any other disappearances. – Bernama, June 30, 2021
