It has been more than six decades since Eiko Kawasaki left Japan to begin a new life in North Korea. “I’m sure the North Korean government will just ignore the court order,” she said. Kenji Fukuda, a chief lawyer for the case, said the most realistic option to retrieve the money was to confiscate North Korean assets and property in Japan. View image in fullscreen Eiko Kawasaki fled North Korea and alerted the world to what critics of the scheme say amounted to state-sanctioned kidnapping. Kawasaki realised she had been deceived as soon as she arrived at a North Korean port, where she was greeted by hundreds of clearly malnourished people covered in soot.

Source: The Guardian February 01, 2026 17:22 UTC