▲ Ms. Do met her children at Soonan Airport ⓒ the Daily NK

A Japanese aid organization to North Korea revealed that Ms. Do Chu Ji (59), previously announced to have been kidnapped by Japan, had in fact left voluntarily to be with her brother. Her family in North Korea made many attempts to persuade Ms. Do to return to North Korea.

On October 18, 2003 the North Korean embassy in Beijing held a press conference regarding the woman, insisting that “Japan forcefully kidnapped a North Korean woman, Ms. Do Chu Ji.”

An affiliate of a Japanese NGO informed the Daily NK in a telephone interview that “Her elder brother, who had already defected to Japan, went to the border area between China and North Korea in October, 2003 in order to help his sister, Ms. Do to defect.” He added that Ms. Do was not kidnapped by Japan as North Korean authority claimed; rather she came to Japan on her own accord.

Ms. Do was born in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Japan, the third daughter of Do Sang Dal, in 1949. She entered North Korea with her parents on the 48th repatriating ship in 1960. In late 1990, her brother defected to Japan and then contacted Ms. Do. In October, 2003 she met her brother at the Tumen River and entered Japan after being protected for a month by the Japanese consulate general from the Japanese consulate in Shenyang.

After defecting, she stayed in Chiba where she apparently became at odds with her brother. It is possible that Ms. Do had missed her family left in North Korea. However, Japanese sources assume that North Korean authority persuaded her to repatriate.

He said “the Japanese government does not have a social system to help defectors adapt to Japanese society, as does South Korea. They are simply accepted. The Japanese government should try to make efforts to understand defectors and communicate with them.”

This marks the second time that defectors who settled in Japan are returned to North Korea. After repatriation in April, 2005, Ahn Pil Hwa gave public lectures praising the North Korean system and criticizing Japan.

Ms. Do was greeted by her well dressed children as she entered North Korea through the Soonan Airport in Pyongyang.