Is there any clear distinction in Japanese for the words 拉致 and 誘拐?

Question

I'm writing an essay about the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens. In English literature I found that the concepts "abduction" and "kidnapping" are used interchangeably. I'm not familiar with Japanese language, but some languages have clear distinctions between words where other languages have not. I wondered if the Japanese translations of the words can be used interchangeably and if not, what the distinctions are. Do they have different connotations?

Answer 1

This Japanese WP entry has a very clear summary:

日本の法律用語としての「誘拐」とは、欺く行為や誘惑を手段として、他人の身柄を自己の実力的支配内に移すことを言う。暴行脅迫を用いた連れ去りを「誘拐」と呼ぶのは本来誤りだが（あらゆる国語辞典で「誘拐」に強制的なニュアンスは見られない）、マスコミにおいては、意思に反して無理矢理連れ去ること（拉致）に関しても「誘拐」という言葉が用いられ、日常用語でもそのような傾向が見られる。

誘拐, as a Japanese legal term, indicates the act of placing a person under one's effective control by way of deceit or temptation. While it is not accurate to use 誘拐 referring to the act of taking away by brute force or intimidation (no Japanese dictionary describes 誘拐 with forcible connotation), mass media is prone to use 誘拐 even when someone is forcibly taken away against their will (拉致), so are people in casual parlance.

拉致 is, of course, not limited to the North Korean conduct, but I think many people today would associate it with that matter as if it were the capitalized "Abduction".