Japanese Woman Defected to North Korea Returns
Kazumi Kitagawa
Japan Today
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Niigata (Japan):
A Japanese woman from Osaka who jumped into a river on the Chinese-North Korean border and defected to North Korea in August 2003 returned to Japan on Thursday.
Kazumi Kitagawa, 31, arrived at Niigata airport from Pyongyang via Vladivostok in the early afternoon and held a brief news conference at a Niigata hotel.
"I caused great trouble to the government and people of Japan and to the people of the North Korean government. I deeply regret it," Kitagawa said."I got a longing to come back because I missed Japan. I want to think slowly while working hard so that I can live properly," she said, adding she stayed at a hotel in Pyongyang and spent her time there comfortably.
She said she received no instructions from North Korea on departing for Japan.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday that it sent Kitagawa back to Japan "from a humanitarian point of view" and that the country "enabled her to live a stable life in an international hotel despite her illegal entry."
Kitagawa left her home in Japan on Aug 18, 2003, leaving a note saying she was going to North Korea, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry and her supporters.
Nov 03, 2005
Kazumi Kitagawa
Japan Today
_________
Niigata (Japan):
A Japanese woman from Osaka who jumped into a river on the Chinese-North Korean border and defected to North Korea in August 2003 returned to Japan on Thursday.
Kazumi Kitagawa, 31, arrived at Niigata airport from Pyongyang via Vladivostok in the early afternoon and held a brief news conference at a Niigata hotel.
"I caused great trouble to the government and people of Japan and to the people of the North Korean government. I deeply regret it," Kitagawa said."I got a longing to come back because I missed Japan. I want to think slowly while working hard so that I can live properly," she said, adding she stayed at a hotel in Pyongyang and spent her time there comfortably.
She said she received no instructions from North Korea on departing for Japan.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday that it sent Kitagawa back to Japan "from a humanitarian point of view" and that the country "enabled her to live a stable life in an international hotel despite her illegal entry."
Kitagawa left her home in Japan on Aug 18, 2003, leaving a note saying she was going to North Korea, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry and her supporters.
Nov 03, 2005
