Sin Gwang-su (Korean: 신광수, Hanja: 辛光洙, Japanese: 立山富蔵 (Tateyama Tomizō), born June 27, 1929) is a Zainichi North Korean, born in Shizuoka, Japan. He was involved in the North Korean abductions of Japanese.
Sin is currently the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Public Security Bureau for his alleged links with abductions.[1]
After World War II he moved to North Korea.
In 1973 he sneaked into Japan through Noto Peninsula. He first kidnapped a Japanese chef Taakaai Hara (who is now husband of Yaeko Taguchi), stole the chef's name and identity, and moved into various Japanese cities, such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. While in Japan, he was suspected of kidnapping a Japanese citizen and working in a North Korean organization to undermine South Korea. In 1985, he was arrested by the South Korean police, and was jailed for life.
In 1999, the South Korean government decided to release him. In 2000 he was resettled to North Korea along with 62 other unconverted long-term prisoners under the terms of the June 15th North–South Joint Declaration.[2] He was regarded as a hero upon his return.
While under South Korean interrogation, he admitted that Kim Jong-il directly ordered the abduction of several foreigners. In 2006, the Japanese government made an extradition request to the North Korean Ambassador, Song Il-Ho, at the Japan-North Korea meeting in Beijing. The North Korean ambassador subsequently refused, calling him a hero of North Korea.
he may behind Megumi Yokota's abduction in 1977