(ARC-CPOD) Dec. 12, 2004 – Many adults in Japan want more pressure on Kim Jong-il’s regime, according to a poll by Kyodo News. 75.1 per cent of respondents support imposing economic sanctions against North Korea.
(ARC-CPOD) Dec. 12, 2004 – Many adults in Japan want more pressure on Kim Jong-il’s regime, according to a poll by Kyodo News. 75.1 per cent of respondents support imposing economic sanctions against North Korea.
In May, Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi traveled to Pyongyang to meet Kim. Koizumi discussed the communist nation’s nuclear weapons program, and returned to Japan with five of the eight known relatives of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.
At the time, Katsuya Okada of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) deemed Koizumi’s visit a “failure,” and said that the meeting between the two world leaders appeared to be “just a ceremony.”
According to the Japanese government, North Korea kidnapped 15 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, and allegedly employed them as language and customs trainers for spies. In 2002, North Korea admitted to abducting 13 Japanese citizens.
Polling Data
Do you support or oppose imposing economic sanctions against North Korea?
Support | 75.1% |
Oppose | 22.3% |
Source: Kyodo News
Methodology: Interviews to 1,009 Japanese adults, conducted from Dec. 9 to Dec. 10, 2004. No margin of error was provided.
