South Korean family holds tearful reunion in North

SEOUL, June 28 (Reuters) The mother of a South Korean at the centre of a high-profile kidnapping case met her son today for the first time in 28 years in North Korea today for a reunion steeped in tears and political tension.

The South Korean abductee, Kim Young-nam, 44, is believed to have been kidnapped by North Korean agents decades ago when he was a teenager.

He is thought to have later married Megumi Yokota, a Japanese abducted by North Korea whose case has become a focus for Japan's anger at Pyongyang for snatching its citizens.

Kim's mother, Choi Kye-wol, broke down in tears at the Mount Kumgang Resort as she wrapped her arms around her son and said, ''My Young-nam, my Young-nam''.

Initial South Korean pool video reports showed Kim with a teenage girl, who the reports said was Hye-gyong, the daughter Kim is supposed to have had with Yokota. Kim also came with his new wife and a son by her, reports said.

In Japan, Yokota's mother Sakie, has told Reuters she thought it was dangerous to go to North Korea, which might use the visit for propaganda, but she sympathised with Kim's mother.

North Korea experts have said the North would not have agreed to the reunion unless its officials were sure of what Kim would say to South Korean reporters and his family about the circumstances of his abduction and life in the communist state.

Yokota was 13 when North Korean agents kidnapped her in 1977. Kim went missing in 1978 when he was 16.

Pyongyang has said Yokota married a North Korean man in 1986 and gave birth to a daughter, who is now 18 and lives in the North. It also said Yokota committed suicide in 1994 while being treated for depression.

Japan says DNA testing indicates it is likely that Kim fathered Yokota's child.

Tokyo has made a priority of the abductee issue, saying its resolution is a condition for improving ties with Pyongyang.

North Korea has admitted to abducting 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s to help train its spies.

Yokota's mother recently met US President George W. Bush.

Tokyo, Washington and Seoul have increased pressure on North Korea to account for the abductees. Earlier this month, Pyongyang said it had located Kim Young-nam.

South Korea has opted for quiet diplomacy in an attempt to gather information about the more than 1,000 South Korean civilian abductees and Korean War prisoners believed still to be alive in the North.

REUTERS KD KP1400