[1] This item was never part of the official government-to-government negotiations.

[2] Japanese authorities came to suspect that this was Taguchi Yaeko, who had disappeared from Japan in June 1978 and was said by Pyongyang to have died in a traffic accident in July 1986.

[3] Sato Katsumi, Rachi kazoku ‘Kin Shojitsu to no arasoi’ zenkyuseki, Shogakukan bunko, 2002, quoted in ibid, p. 95.

[4] A fourth organization devoted to improving relations with North Korea formed after a parliamentary delegation to North Korea led by former Prime Minister Murayama. The “National Association for the Normalization of Japan-North Korea Relations” took the view that Japan had a responsibility to apologize and atone for its colonial rule and that the various problems in the relationship were the product of a deeply rooted abnormality that could only be resolved through normalization. With Murayama as president and Wada Haruki as Secretary-General, this group included former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Akashi Yasushi and well-known academics specializing in the study of Korea, Okonogi Masao and Komaki Teruo. Through the turbulent years that followed, it remained a focus of moderate opinion contrasting with the more strident and public “Rescue” and “Families” associations.

[5] For a comprehensive list of North Korea- related books published since 1984: Wada Haruki and Takasaki Shuji, eds., Kita Chosen hon do yomu ka, Akashi shoten, 2003, pp. 198-233.

[6] Ota Osamu, “Hi-seiji teki tetsugakusha o yosou daibutsu bomeisha,” Wada and Takasaki, eds., pp. 80-91, at p. 91.

[7] “Kin soshoki wa atama no tenkai hayai hito,” Asahi shimbun, 28 May 2004.

[8] “Rokusha kyogi - Beikoku mo ugoku toki da,” Asahi shimbun, editorial, 22 June 2004.

[9] For the Japanese government's statement of 24 December, Nicho kankei to rokusha kyogi, pp. 66-69.

[10] Ibid., p. 46.

[11] Japanese officials, shown the tree in November 2004, estimated that its trunk was a mere 10 centimeters in diameter, a circumstance that deepened their doubt about the suicide story. (“Rachi higaisha seizon no kanosei,” Asahi shimbun, 3 April 2005.)

[12] Nanzando, 1999. See discussion in Wada, Nicho kankei to rokusha kyogi, pp. 43-4.

[13] “Politics versus reality,” Nature, vol. 434, 17 March 2005, pp. 257.

[14] “Megumi-san ‘ikotsu’ de ronso,” Asahi shimbun, 10 May 2005.

[15] Norimitsu Onishi, “Asia Letter: About a kidnap victim, DNA testing, and doubt,” International Herald Tribune, 2 June 2005.

[16] David Cyranoski, “Geneticist's new post could stop him testifying about DNA tests,” Nature, Vol. 437, 7 April 2005, p. 685.

[17] Machimura, in response to a question in House of Representatives, 30 March 2005.

[18] As proposed by this author (Wada), Dojidai hihyo – 2002 nen 9-gatsu – 2005 nen 1-gatsu, Nicho kankei to rachi mondai, Sairyusha, 2005, p. 48.

[19] The delegation included Wada Haruki. See the Song Il Ho interview (with Wada et al) in Nicho kankei to rokusha kyogi, pp.101-105.

[20] The expression which was used by Mr. Pak Hyon Zhe, Deputy Director of Institute of Peace and Disarmament, in meeting with this author (Wada) and others on 30 March 2005.

[21] For example, Professor Komaki Teruo of Kokugakuin University. See Nicho kankei to rokusha kyogi, pp. 51-55.

[22] Asahi shimbun, 22 June 2005.

[23] “Free market stirrings in North Korea, “The Economist, 25 July 2002.

[24] Fujita Yutaka, “Zainichi Korian no kodomotachi ni taisuru iyaragase jittai cho'sa,” Sekai, October 2003, pp. 248-254.

[25] Various statements by President Bush, Secretary of State Rice, and Under-Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, January to May 2005.

[26] Gavan McCormack, “A North Korean visitor to the White House,” Japan Focus, 17 July 2005, http://japanfocus.org/article.asp?id=335.

[27] North Korean Foreign Ministry “Memorandum on 6-Party Talks,” 4 March 2005.