[Compiler's Note] The following editorial is transcribed from FREE NORTH KOREA! (http://freenorthkorea.net) that has been kept on my private storage since 2003. It was originally published by the Korea Herald in its issue of July 28, 2003. You may still find the editorial from achieves of the newspaper, when searched for "abductees." The website of FREE NORTH KOREA! is currently under reconstruction. The dating below is changed from July 29, 2003 to July 28, 2003 to be compatible with the original publications. Here you are:




The armistice was signed and the guns fell silent. The bloody battle ended 50 years ago yesterday, but peace remains a painful elusive dream for the divided nation. Moreover, the tragic internecine conflict has left millions of people on both sides of the heavily fortified border still deeply scarred. For the families of missing prisoners of war and civilians that the communist North Korea has abducted, the nightmare is far from over.

The Defense Ministry estimated that a total of 19,409 South Korean soldiers became POWs when the war stopped. Of these, only 481 have been confirmed as still alive, based on the testimonies of repatriated (sic: In fact, those deserted from North Korea as the word is a mistake.) POWs or North Korean defectors. The number of civilian abducted or forcibly taken away to join the North Korean army during the war is estimated to be 94,700, according to the Korean War Abductees' Family Union. It is believed that the North kidnapped a total of 3,767 South Koreans after the war; 464 remain detained.

Many agree, however, that the total number of South Korean civilians carried away to the North is even larger. Unofficial statistics say that at least 300,000 southerners "disappeared" during the catastrophic war. The pain of the abductees' families doubled when their own society doubted their patriotism rather than succoring them as victims. Often, an abductee's kin failed to officially register the disappearance for many years after the war because if one had a relative in the North, even if he was kidnapped, staunchly anti-communist South Korean society looked askance at the family.

Only recently, therefore, these families stepped forward to identify themselves as double victims of the severe Cold War confrontation. They are still waging an uphill battle to shed light on their long hidden agony so that they can determine their family members' whereabouts and seek reunions.

Regretfully, governments here have largely ignored their plight. The abductees issue has seldom been discussed in earnest at inter-Korean conferences. South Korean officials avoid raising it, while North Korea keeps asserting that "there are no South Korean abductees in the North."

In this regard, North Korea has obviously violated the cease-fire treaty. Korean Armistice Agreement stipulates that "all civilians who, on June 24, 1950, resided south of the Military Demarcation Line established in this Agreement shall, if they desire to return home, be permitted and assisted by the Supreme Commander of the (North) Korean People's Army (sic: Kim Il-sung, the father of Kim Jong-il) and the commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers (sic: Peng The-haui) to return to the area south of the Military Demarcation Lone."

The South Korean government may consider itself, in theory, an inappropriate dialogue partner because it is not a signatory to the agreement. It can also assist local and international NGOs to pressure the North Korean government to address the unresolved humanitarian tragedies.

The previous Kim Dae-jung administration set a disputable precedent by repatriating 63 communist convicts to the North while remaining silent on South Korean POWs and abductees. If the North remains uncooperative, our policymakers may attempt to link this dire humanitarian issue with the South's economic and other aid programs for the North. It is time that this long neglected issue is included in the South-North agenda.

Posted by Chris at 09:52 PM I Comments (0) I TrackBack

Compiled by: C. Y. Lee, Advocator (Voluntary) on Saturday, October 15,2005