North Korean spy operation gives new meaning to 'evil'

Whether Korea is part of an "axis of evil" will be a matter of some debate for a while. The Bush administration has just sent a U.S. delegation to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, for the first talks on security issues in two years, but no one is talking about what was discussed. And no one is about to predict what the future holds for U.S.-North Korean relations.
But there can be no debate and no doubt about the purely evil nature of one North Korean intelligence operation pursued against Japan during the 1970s and 1980s. Details are only now being made public.
It was during those decades that North Korean commandos executed periodic raids on Japan during which normal citizens were abducted and taken to North Korea where they were pressed into service to train spies in Japanese language and customs.
The abductees were teen-agers and young adults whose families until now did not know what happened to them, although for years there has been speculation that the North Koreans were involved.
In all, 13 people were abducted, eight of whom are dead, according to the North Koreans. The other five are living in North Korea, and all have said that they now consider the country their home and do not wish to return to Japan. It's fair to wonder how free those survivors are to say what they truly want or believe. And certainly Japan has a right to be suspicious about the how the other eight met their deaths. Korea denies executing any of them.
Not exactly a free admission
Pyongyang's admission last month to Japan's long-held claim that it had kidnapped Japanese citizens was a condition Tokyo had set for resuming normalization talks.
Now that the truth is known, the backlash is so strong that it may derail talks for a while. "There is no need for normalization," said Sakie Yokota, whose daughter, Megumi, was abducted when she was 13 years old. North Korea provided a photograph of Megumi as an adult, but claim that she committed suicide while being treated in an asylum.
Families of the five survivors are demanding that they be returned to Japan regardless of videotaped claims that they are happy where they are.
It is a remarkable story of one nation's complete disregard for the rights of the citizens of another nation. Imagine the horror of these young people who were snatched up on their way home from school or while taking a walk on the beach. Imagine the years of torture suffered by their loved ones, who are suffering still.
Can a nation that would do that just to gather information ever be trusted?