Japan Denies Report That North Korean Kidnap Victim Died in 1994

Japan denied a report providing evidence that a Japanese woman abducted by North Korea at the age of 13, who became a symbol of a four-decade campaign to recover kidnapping victims, died in 1994 of an overdose.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said there was “absolutely no credibility” to a report in South Korean newspaper Dong-A confirming Megumi Yokota’s death at a North Korean psychiatric hospital 20 years ago. The paper cited a report by South Korean activist Choi Sung Yong and Japanese investigators.