Kidnapped!

During the 1970s and 1980s, several young Japanese people disappeared from their country without a trace. After many years of searching, initiated by their families and later the media, it transpired that they had been kidnapped by North Korea in order to teach the country's spies Japanese. After the case became a huge media affair, North Korea was forced to admit its responsibility. Despite this, many questions remain unanswered Only five of those kidnapped have ever returned, the search for the rest has so far been unfruitful. For the time being, they have been declared dead. Australian documentary filmmaker Melissa Kyu–Jung Lee focused on three families of differing social backgrounds, united by the same tragic set of circumstances; for each of them, a happy home is life's highest aim. The mysterious loss of a member of the family is thus even harder to bear. Lee convincingly examines the plight of the families, but also gives a general picture of injustice, the lurking dangers that threaten each one of us and the unlimited power of politics and dictatorship. She also shows that fighting in the international arena can lead to a complete loss of privacy, as well as exposing the incredible impregnability and severity of the North Korean dictatorship and the absurd status quo in this country. The film is also an almost absurd portrayal of the way that the public domain can hide a crime. Its main message is that even ordinary people have the potential to rouse society from its apathy and can even set the agenda for international negotiations, if they have enough courage and determination to fight for their rights.