S Korean family mum on North abductee story

KOSONG, South Korea, June 30 (Reuters) The family of a South Korean taken to the North 28 years ago spoke today of their emotional reunion but were silent about his contested comments on life in one of the world's most reclusive states.

Kim Young-nam, the man at the centre of a high-profile kidnapping case, a day earlier sparked scepticism in the South and anger in Japan with his tale of how he inadvertently ended up in the North and how his first wife -- a Japanese kidnapped when a teenager by North Korea -- had committed suicide.

''Thanks to the great interest from all of you, I was able to see the brother I missed so much,'' his sister Kim Young-ja told reporters in Kosong, on the east coast of South Korea, just south of the border.

But Kim's family wanted to focus on the three days they had spent with their long-lost relative, not the controversy and ignored questions about his explanations over what had happened since he disappeared from South Korea in 1978.

On their departure in North Korea, Kim carried his mother Choi Kye-wol, 82, on to a bus bound for the South, shedding tears as his relatives drove away.

DOUBTS The major South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo said Kim's story about making his way to the North after falling asleep while drifting in a row boat was ''utter nonsense''.

''His kidnapping is a fact, confirmed by a spy who has been arrested in the South after being dispatched here on a mission,'' it wrote in an editorial today.

Several South Korean dailies pressed the South Korean government to correct Kim's story and demand North Korea apologise for abducting hundreds of its citizens.

And the Japanese government said it was difficult to believe Kim's assertion that his first wife -- Megumi Yokota -- had committed suicide. His second wife, their small son and his daughter believed to be by Yokota joined Kim at the reunion.

Tokyo has been feuding with Pyongyang over the fate of Japanese citizens abducted decades ago and says diplomatic ties cannot be established until its questions are answered clearly.

Kim's remarks about his wife killing herself reflected the official North Korean position that Yokota and seven other Japanese abducted in the 1970s and 1980s died of illness, accidents or committed suicide.

But Megumi's parents and the Japanese government have cast doubt on the suicide claim. Her case has been the focus of Japanese anger at North Korea for abducting its citizens.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told reporters in Tokyo yesterday that Japan wanted to keep negotiating with Pyongyang on the premise all the abductees were still alive.

''It is not possible in North Korea to speak one's own mind,'' he said.

Reuters SHB GC1716