Two More Japanese Escape from N. Korea

The Asahi Shimbun reported on the 26th that a Japanese woman and her 40-year-old son, both of whom defected from North Korea, are being sheltered by the authorities in Jilin, China.

The 73-year-old woman, from Sendai in Japan, migrated to North Korea after her husband joined the Chongryon (General Association of North Korean Residents in Japan) in 1967, and defected from North Korea, reportedly due to the famine, across the Tumen River this spring.

According to the Japanese newspaper, while the Chinese police investigated their illegal entrance into China, the fact that they wanted to go to Japan came to light. The newspaper also reported that the Japanese government has requested their transfer to Japan on humanitarian grounds.  [Daily NK]

I wonder if this has anything to do with North Korea’s rumored “discovery” of more abductees.