Japan has asked Interpol to put two elderly former North Korean spies on an international wanted list for their suspected involvement in kidnapping at least four Japanese citizens in the 1970s, media reports said Friday. The move was another step in the government's efforts to pressure North Korea into cooperating more fully in detailing what happened to the abducted Japanese. North Korea said in 2002 that its agents kidnapped 13 Japanese over the years, apparently to train spies in the Japanese language and culture. It returned five of the victims, including two couples, but said the remaining eight were dead. Japan, however, suspects some of the others are still living in North Korea and has demanded conclusive proof of their deaths. It also wants information on other missing people that authorities think may have been kidnapped by the North.
With public anger in Japan high, Japanese leaders have put the issue at the top of the agenda in recent rounds of talks with North Korea and they rule out increased ties sought by the communist regime in Pyongyang until there is progress. Last month, Japanese courts issued arrest warrants for two former North Korean agents -- Shin Kwang Su and Choi Sung Chol -- suspected of participating in some of the kidnappings. The government demanded Pyongyang hand over the men for trial. Now the National Police Agency has requested that Interpol put the two men on the international wanted list, public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News agency reported. The police agency and Foreign Ministry would not confirm the report. The two men, who are both in their 70s and are believed to be in North Korea, are suspected of kidnapping two couples -- Yasushi and Fukie Chimura and Kaoru and Yukiko Hasuike -- separately from western Japan in 1978. North Korea returned all four to Japan in 2002.