Published on November 14, 2005

Sukham Panjoy and Teruaki Masumoto have something in common: they share the unfathomable suffering of having had a loved one taken from them. Both a sister of Sukham and a sister of Masumoto were abducted by North Korean agents in 1978. After having talked to both in Bangkok last week, I was struck by stark differences in the treatment received by them from their respective governments, countries and communities.

During the discussion, Masumoto’s eyes noticeably shined with hope whenever his sister’s name was mentioned. In contrast, Sukham’s eyes were blank. Often he lacked focus. While Masumoto was confident that one day his sister, Rumiko, would come home, Sukham only kept looking with an empty expression at a passport photo of his sister, Anocha.

So when Pyongyang announced that Rumiko died of a heart attack in 1981 at the age of 27, and that her body later was washed away during a time of heavy floods. Masumoto knew it was a propganda because the accountof her alleged death was very difficult to verify.

As brother, he knows his sister was in good health at the time of her disappearance at the age of 24. He is challenging North Korea to provide more clarification on the matter, as well imploring the Japanese government to pursue the issue as well.

His determination to get his sister home has been bolstered by continuous support from other victims’ families as well as local supportive groups at the community and national levels, such as the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea, popularly known as the Japanese Rescue Movement, with local groups in 34 prefectures. He is now it secretary-general.

The moment of truth came during Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s first trip to Pyongyang for a summit meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. On September 17, 2002, Kim admitted that Japanese citizens had been abducted, apologised for it and assured that this would never happen again. It had taken Tokyo more than two decades of persistence and tolerance to overcome Pyongyang’s 24-year propaganda and denials.

Tokyo has determined that 16 of its citizens were abducted. It was Koizumi’s personal intervention at the highest level that secured this information and the beginnings of a deal to account for them. Only four weeks after the 2002 meeting, five Japanese were allowed to return to Japan.

The rescue movement has been gaining momentum and support in light of revelations that besides Japanese and South Koreans, citizens of other countries were victims too. North Korean defectors both in Japan and South Korea have often talked about abducted Europeans and other Asian nationalities in North Korea.

Specifically, Hiromi Soga, wife of the American army deserter Charles Robert Jenkins, testified that abductions were carried out in Southeast Asia and Europe. Soga knew Anocha personally because they lived in the same compound.

Due to the relentless effort of support groups, Japanese politicians from constituencies where the abduction victims came from are jointly pursuing the matter. They meet regularly to exchange information and keep the pressure on the Japanese government not to abandon the effort. The abductions remain a key issue in Japan-North Korea relations.

In contrast, before The Nation’s report on Anocha’s case two weeks ago, Sukham and his family members kept the story and despairs to themselves--nobody to share. They were extremely happy to meet with Masumoto Thursday and hear of his experience in coping with this trauma for the past 27 years. They will fly to Tokyo next month to meet with other Japanese families suffered from the abductions.

Sukham said Masumoto was lucky because he received lots of support from local communities and the Japanese government. “Why doesn’t the prime minister help us? Is he not also from San Kamphaeng?” Sukham asked with bewilderment. Doesn’t the fate of Anocha warrant the prime minister’s personal intervention? Certainly the fact that the Thai government was notified in May by the Japanese government about the existence of Anocha and has done nothing about it testifies to the government’s negligence in this matter.

One of the Thaksin government’s much-heralded foreign policies is the promotion and protection of Thai citizen overseas. Whether Anocha, who hails from the same home district in Chiang Mai province as Thaksin, deserves the attention of the government, we will eventually find out. For the time being, though, the government seems to think it can afford to drag its feet on the issue, by asking for more information and evidence on the case before any concrete action is taken.

One has the feeling that maybe the Thai government and people do not really care. In fact, if there was public outrage concerning Anocha such as there was in Japan and other countries whose citizens were kidnapped by North Korea, this populist government would definitely have a more robust response. For the public at large, Anocha is just an unlucky woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After all, every year, thousands of Thai women are trafficked across borders and simply disappear.

Why would a government abduct a Thai woman from Macau? Many thought it did not make sense. So a conventional view among many is that Anocha does not deserve any special treatment. But her disappearance was organized by a government which made her case unique. Obviously, Thaksin does not want to open a new Pandora’s box.

Thailand should learn from Japan’s experience in coping with this explosive issue both at the community and national levels. Of course, Bangkok does not want to be identified with Tokyo’s eagerness to internationalise such abductions. But that should not prevent the government from discussing and preparing for future negotiations with North Korea.0

The Foreign Ministry has made clear that this is a bilateral issue. But whether this problem can be solved amicably between the two countries--which enjoy “excellent” friendship, according to the government-–is anybody’s guess.

Anocha’s fate is not only a humanitarian issue but also a blatant act of state-sponsored crime. Failure to find out the truth on Anocha’s whereabouts as soon as possible would be a disgrace for the nation, and for a government that claims to represent all Thai people.

Kavi Chongkittavorn

The Narion

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