World News Bones unlikely to be those of abductee

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In a finding that raises serious doubts over the credibility of Pyongyang's accounts of the kidnapping of Japanese nationals, authorities in Tokyo concluded Nov. 13 that bones North Korea claims are the remains of Kaoru Matsuki are probably not his.

Matsuki is one of more than a dozen Japanese abducted by North Korean agents in the late 1970s and early 1980s. North Korea claims that he died in a traffic accident in 1996 at the age of 43.

North Korea told the first Japanese fact-finding mission one month ago that it could not be completely certain that the bones were Matsuki's because they had been washed away in a flood, recovered later and cremated for a second time, but that they appeared to be his.

The Japanese government said earlier this month that a DNA analysis of the bones could not prove that the remains belonged to Matsuki due to serious heat damage as a result of multiple cremations.

Masatsugu Hashimoto, a dental specialist, said the bones apparently belonged to a woman over the age of 60 and were incompatible with a man of Matsuki's build and age.

The findings have added to the serious doubts Japanese officials have expressed about Pyongyang's explanations about the abductees North Korea claims are dead.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukudo, however, has indicated that Japan will not lodge a protest with Pyongyang for providing the wrong remains, but will request that North Korea conduct further investigations. He added that Japan may dispatch another fact-finding mission to North Korea.

拉致被害者の遺骨は別人

北朝鮮による拉致事件で、松木薫さんのものとされた「遺骨」は別人の可能性が高いとの鑑定結果が出た。

Shukan ST: Nov. 22, 2002

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