Koizumi lifted by N Korea visit

The plight of the young men and women has dominated Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's popularity has been boosted by the release of five children of former kidnap victims in North Korea.

Mr Koizumi travelled to Pyongyang at the weekend for a summit which culminated in the five young men and women flying to Tokyo.

The Japanese media have criticised the visit, saying that Mr Koizumi made too many concessions to the North.

But polls indicated support for his cabinet has risen 11 percentage points.

Mr Koizumi travelled to North Korea two months before elections to Japan's Upper House, and in the face of a pensions scandal that has damaged his government.

It was his second trip to the North. During the previous visit, in 2002, Mr Kim admitted that several Japanese had been abducted by North Korean agents during the Cold War.

They had been kidnapped so that they could train North Korean spies in the Japanese language and culture.

JAPAN'S MISSING Snatched in the '70s and '80s Used as cultural trainers for N Korean spies Five allowed home in 2002 Five children now freed from N Korea Eight said to be dead, others missing No plaudits for Koizumi Heartbreak over missing

The abductees were allowed to return home in October that year, but their Korean-born children were prevented from leaving until now.

Following Saturday's summit, a poll in the Asahi newspaper suggested the popularity of Mr Koizumi's cabinet had risen to 54%, from 45% the week before. The Yomiuri and Mainichi newspapers showed a similar rise.

But Japanese media and opposition politicians criticised Mr Koizumi for promising North Korea 250,000 tons of food aid and $10m of medical supplies, saying it was too generous.

Commentators have also criticised him for failing to extract clear promises from the North over its nuclear weapons programme, or clear accounts of the fate of 10 other Japanese thought to have been kidnapped by North Korea.

Nevertheless, the reunion of the five children with their parents is the resolution of an emotional issue which has dominated the country's media for months.

CHARLES JENKINS Now in his early 60s, he disappeared during army service in South Korea in 1965 Met and married former Japanese kidnap victim Hitomi Soga in North Korea The US Government says he defected to the North His family in Carolina say he was abducted and should be pardoned

On Sunday, the five spent their first day in Japan. Relatives said they were confused by their new surroundings and missed their friends in North Korea, but one family said their "harmonious atmosphere" had already been restored.

However, there was no happy ending for another former kidnap victim, Hitomi Soga. Her husband, former US soldier Charles Robert Jenkins, and their two daughters, decided not to come to Japan after Washington refused to guarantee Mr Jenkins would not be prosecuted on his arrival.

He is listed as deserting his troops in South Korea in 1965 and defecting to the North.

Mr Koizumi reportedly told Mr Jenkins during an hour's meeting with him on Saturday that he would try to convince the US to waive any charges.

But after the meeting, a US Defence Department spokesman issued a statement stressing that Mr Jenkins "remains subject to the Uniform code of Military Justice and has been charged with extremely serious offences", according to the Kyodo news agency.

Mr Jenkins instead reportedly accepted an offer for he and his family to meet outside Japan, possibly in Beijing, to discuss their future.