Kim Photoshops Megumi's Photo

[Captain Japan]

N. Korea accused of doctoring photo of missing abductee
Mainichi

Members of a private group assisting relatives of Japanese believed abducted by North Korean agents have said that one of the photos Pyongyang officials gave to a Japanese delegation might have been a composite.

When the Japanese delegation visited North Korea last week for talks on the abduction issue, North Korean officials gave the visitors what they claimed three photos of abductee Megumi Yokota.

The news last night was saying it is the one in the upper right.

[Taro Toporific]

The news last night was saying it is one in the upper right.

As Mr. Sparkle or Charles could better explain, photo grain under the microscope (or ultra-high quality scans of photos) make it painfully obvious if a photo is doctored. The above press photos are too degraded me to work with, but looking at weird cutout edges and shadow angles is always a dead giveaway. Nowadays, pros make a ultra-high quality scan and statisitically sample the edges of the suspicious cutout edges on a photo. It's less than a 30-minute job. The Foreign Ministry already knows that the photos are faked (Megumi is fat and owns a car in N. Korea, riiiiight).

[Charles]

As Mr. Sparkle or Charles could better explain, photo grain under the microscope (or ultra-high quality scans of photos) make it painfully obvious if a photo is doctored.

Gee Taro, how did you know that one of my specialties is detecting forged photos?

But in this case, I believe the upper right photo is authentic. I debunked this same issue before, when arguing with some moon-hoaxers. It appears that they are claiming the face is composited onto a the photo. The reason the shadow on the ground does not align with the shadows on her face is because she is standing on a slope. The shadow conforms to the upward slope. Here's an example of the effect:

http://www.dave.co.nz/space/moon-hoax/converging-shadows.html

Unfortunately, the guy that wrote the page does not fully understand the effect, even though he demonstrates it nicely. It's all due to perspective effects against a surface inclined to both the light source and the camera.

I noticed that the shadows on her face do align nicely with the shadows on her body. So if this was a composite, they would have composited a shot of her entire body against the background. And what would be the point of that? They wanted to get a photo of her set against those specific trees?

[dimwit]

Ok, I'm confused. The North Koreans claim that she died in some 'accident' or whatnot. Why are they producing a obviously doctored photo of her presumably alive? Please explain it to me.

[Captain Japan]

Ok, I'm confused. The North Koreans claim that she died in some 'accident' or whatnot. Why are they producing a obviously doctored photo of her presumably alive? Please explain it to me.

They have claimed that she died in 1993 and then changed the year to 1994. These photos are all from before then.

[dimwit]

Ok, I'm confused. The North Koreans claim that she died in some 'accident' or whatnot. Why are they producing a obviously doctored photo of her presumably alive? Please explain it to me.

They have claimed that she died in 1993 and then changed the year to 1994. These photos are all from before then.

Ok, so why reveal any photos at all, let alone fake ones? Seems to me it's like foreign policy being conducted by high school students.

[Bongo]

Well, we will soon find out if she is back home now or not after the DNA samples are tested. The fact of the matter is, the ruling LDP sat on all of these abductions for nearly 30 years! How come they are so interested all of a sudden?
This whole thing is being exploited by the Koizumi cabinet to hide more serious concerns such as the still failing economy, the dental association 100,000,000 Yen bribe to the LDP, planned tax hikes and last but not least corruption allegations against Koizumi and his brother!

[Bongo]

Wonder why there is NO mention of the outcome of the DNA tests done on the "supposed" remains of Yokota Megumi, in the news or papers?
Did I miss this or has it just not been reported?

[Taro Toporific]

Wonder why there is NO mention of the outcome of the DNA tests done on the "supposed" remains of Yokota Megumi, in the news or papers?
Did I miss this or has it just not been reported?

I asked over my friend on the city desk of Gomiyuri Shinbun. He says they are doing the 6-week long DNA test with the 99.99999999% accuracy rate rather than the regular 3-day one with only 99% accuracy. Conveniently slow, ne?

[Bongo]

Wonder why there is NO mention of the outcome of the DNA tests done on the "supposed" remains of Yokota Megumi, in the news or papers?
Did I miss this or has it just not been reported?

I asked over my friend on the city desk of Gomiyuri Shinbun. He says they are doing the 6-week long DNA test with the 99.99999999% accuracy rate rather than the regular 3-day one with only 99% accuracy. Conveniently slow, ne?

Six week DNA test?
I thought the 99%+ test took 6-7 days not six weeks!

Just found this about DNA sibling testing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
How long does it normally take to obtain test results?
In a straightforward parentage test, the analysis will typically be completed in 5 business days from the time that Orchid GeneScreen has received the sample. Rush testing, on a 3-day, 2-day, or 1-day basis may also available, depending on the type of analysis required. More complicated sibship cases will take longer.
http://www.1800dnatest.com/faqfamilystudies.asp#10

[Mulboyne]

I believe Japanese DNA is different

[cstaylor]

I believe Japanese DNA is different

More likely the equipment is different.

[Bongo]

NHK just had a news flash that the DNA test results on the remains given to the Yokota Family prove that they are NOT the remains of Megumi Yokota.

[Skankster]

-
-

NHK just had a news flash that the DNA test results on the remains given to the Yokota Family prove that they are NOT the remains of Megumi Yokota.

Did you expect it to match?
How naiive!

The only way to do it would be to provide DNA from that husband and compare it to the DNA of Megumi's daughter that has been verified.

But they are still playing smoke and mirrors.

[Taro Toporific]

[Bongo]

-
-

NHK just had a news flash that the DNA test results on the remains given to the Yokota Family prove that they are NOT the remains of Megumi Yokota.

Did you expect it to match?
How naiive!

The only way to do it would be to provide DNA from that husband and compare it to the DNA of Megumi's daughter that has been verified.

But they are still playing smoke and mirrors.

What the fuck are you talking about saying "naive"?
I expected nothing nor do I really give a toss either way.
The point was that we had recently been asking why the DNA tests were taking so long!

[Skankster]

-
-
OK

What the fuck!

[Mulboyne]

English Kyodo Report
Tests show human remains that North Korea claims belonged to a Japanese citizen abducted decades ago by communist agents are those of someone else, the Japanese government said Wednesday. Pyongyang said the remains belonged to Megumi Yokota, who was one of several Japanese abducted by North Korean agents during the 1970s and 80s. North Korea maintains that she died in 1994, but Japan doubts the account.
"The remains were someone else's, not Megumi Yokota's," said Yukari Yamada, an official with the abductees' support group in the Cabinet Office.
A spokesman for the Niigata Prefectural police, which covers the area where Yokota was kidnapped, said forensic tests showed the remains belonged to two unidentified people. The spokesman identified himself only by his family name, Yamakami.

[Mulboyne]

Not Matsuki either
Kyodo: Set of remains from N. Korea not Matsuki's, gov't confirms
A set of cremated remains Japan received from North Korea are not those of Japanese abductee Kaoru Matsuki, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Thursday. North Korea said in November the remains were probably Matsuki's when the two countries held working-level talks in Pyongyang on the North's abductions of Japanese citizens. Hosoda told a news conference scientific analysis of the remains confirmed they are not those of Matsuki.
On Wednesday, the government said the cremated remains which North Korea said were those of another abductee Megumi Yokota are those of other people. Yokota and Matsuki are among 10 Japanese citizens Japan says were abducted by North Korea in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and who are still unaccounted for. Japanese officials brought both sets of remains from North Korea last month after the bilateral talks. North Korea told Japan that Matsuki was killed in a car accident in 1996 after being taken from Spain to North Korea in 1980 when he was 26.

[Taro Toporific]

Japan Accused of Fudging Kidnap Evidence
AP
Wednesday December 15, 1:22 AM
North Korea on Tuesday accused Japan of doctoring the DNA analysis it conducted on remains allegedly belonging to a Japanese girl kidnapped by communist spies decades ago, denying Tokyo's claim they were those of someone else.

Japan said last week that tests on remains that Pyongyang claimed belonged to Megumi Yokota, who was 13 when she was abducted in 1977, showed that they were actually those of two other people.

A man claiming to be Yokota's widower handed the remains to Japanese officials who were in Pyongyang last month to prod the North to come clean about its abductions of Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s.

A spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday accused Japan of falsifying the DNA analysis, saying the work "was based on a political script."

"It is unimaginable that Megumi Yokota's husband would hand over to Japan the remains of a stranger and not his wife," the unidentified spokesman said in a statement carried on state-run Korean Central Broadcast that was monitored in Tokyo by Radiopress.

"If he did as Japan said and handed over the remains of a stranger, what do you suppose he expected to achieve by doing so?" he said.

The remarks were the first official reaction from the reclusive communist state since Japanese officials said Dec. 8 that the remains were not Yokota's.

[GuyJean]

I believe Japanese DNA is different

Especially when they fuck it up..

Japan Acknowledges Possible Foul-up in Analyzing Remains
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200503/200503100007.html

The team which analyzed the cremated remains of Megumi Yokoda says the result is not final and it is possible that the test samples could have been tainted. Tokyo had previously claimed that North Korea handed over fake remains belonging to another person.

Teikyo University Professor Tomio Yoshii whose team led the DNA test made these remarks in an interview with the science journal Nature. Professor Yoshii said no matter how meticulously handled, it is possible that someone else's perspiration or other fluids could have tainted the sample material.

The magazine pointed out that Japanese forensic experts hardly have any experience analyzing cremated remains and that there is near zero-possibility that traces of DNA would still be in the remains that endured 1200 degrees Celsius in the incinerator. Professor Yoshii said a re-test is almost impossible as the samples he received from the Japanese government have been entirely consumed. (?)

D'oh! Which LDP groper got drunk and pissed in the DNA?

GJ

[Mulboyne]

[dimwit]

This outcry, however, dissolved into an embarrassed silence when science journal Nature cast serious doubts earlier this year over the reliability of the tests and revealed signs of a Japanese cover-up, according to a South Korean researcher

And you wonder why North Korea doesn't want Japan as a member of the 6 nations talks.

[AssKissinger]

[SIZE="5"]Film on abductee Megumi Yokota wins prize at U.S. film festival[/SIZE]


(Kyodo) _ A U.S. documentary film chronicling North Korea's abduction of Megumi Yokota and depicting her family's agony won an award for best documentary feature at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Friday.
The 85-minute film "Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story," directed by Chris Sheridan and Patty Kim and based on interviews with abductees' families and other materials, was honored with the Audience Sparky Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The film depicts what Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie have been through since their 13-year-old daughter's 1977 abduction by North Korean agents and their campaign to enlist the Japanese government's help in rescuing her.

The whereabouts of Megumi Yokota remain unaccounted for. Pyongyang has said she died in North Korea, but Tokyo rejects their claim as untrustworthy and is pressing the North to return her and other abduction victims to Japan.

The film festival is held annually to introduce short-reel films produced mainly by independent movie companies. It selects winning entries for more than 20 award categories, and the chosen films will be presented at special screenings in New York, Los Angeles and other locations after the festival.

[dimwit]

From the film festival press release:

Audience Sparky Award for Best Documentary Feature
Sponsored by Sonic Magic: $25,000 credit on post-production services.
ABDUCTION: THE MEGUMI YAKOTA STORY
World Premiere - (2006, 85 min., USA) directed by Chris Sheridan & Patty Kim, written by Patty Kim.
The haunting story of a 13 year-old Japanese girl kidnapped by North Korean spies.

http://www.slamdance.com/press/press_release.asp?article_id=526

Funny, I had never heard of the Slamdance Festival so I assumed it was a typo and that AK had been watching too much wrestling as of late.

[Mulboyne]

There's a link to a trailer of the film here

[Greji]

-when science journal Nature cast serious doubts earlier this year over the reliability of the tests and revealed signs of a Japanese cover-up, according to a South Korean researcher

I wonder if it was the expert world renown cloning researcher casting these doubts?

[Mulboyne]

The Foreign Ministry has produced a revised edition of a pamphlet on the abductions in English, Chinese and Korean. They will deliver them to local embassies and international bodies.

[Mulboyne]

Kim and Megumi - from the Yomiuri

[GuyJean]

NHK had a story that 'Paul' (Noel Stookey) from 'Peter, Paul, and Mary' has written a song about Megumi's abduction; 'Song for Megumi'..

I did a search but found nothing.. It sounded 'folky' and cheesy, but I'm curious about the lyrics.

He said all the proceeds will be towards 'helping the family'..

GJ