N Korea kidnapped seeks US help

A Japanese woman abducted to North Korea 25 years ago, but repatriated last October, has asked the United States ambassador to Japan to help reunite abduction victims' families.

The woman, Hitomi Soga, said she asked the ambassador, Howard Baker, to help herself and others who had to leave family members behind in North Korea.

Hitomi Soga left two children and her husband, a former US army sergeant, in North Korea.

He is listed as a deserter and could face arrest and court-martial by the American authorities if he goes to Japan.

Japanese officials are reported as saying that Mr Baker indicated that the abductions would be on the agenda when Japan's Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, meets President Bush later this month.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service