"Women are not Weak" - Diplomat Saiga sets to prove it in N. Korea

Diplomat Fumiko Saiga has repeatedly tried to convince Japanese politicians and labor officials that women are not weak. She is again set to prove that point on her new mission as Japan's first ambassador in charge of human rights.

Having long dedicated herself to the elimination of discrimination against women, Saiga will now take on a country that world leaders are still trying to figure out: North Korea.

Saiga, 62, ambassador to Norway and Iceland, was appointed Dec. 6 to concurrently serve in the newly created post.

Flying back to Tokyo from Oslo on Dec. 8, Saiga landed in Seoul the same day to attend an international conference urging Pyongyang to improve its human rights records.

There, she agreed with Jay Lefkowitz, U.S. special envoy on human rights, to strengthen cooperation to resolve the issue of Japanese abducted to North Korea.

Saiga said she will have to shelve her gardening and golfing hobbies to shuttle between Oslo and such cities as Geneva and New York to attend U.N. human rights meetings and other international forums.

"Abduction is an unpardonable act that infringes on all kinds of human rights, such as freedom of expression, thought, creed and abode," she says. "Since many countries in Europe have diplomatic ties with North Korea, I hope to seek their understanding and cooperation."

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