[Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Tuesday, December 6, 2005] In this particular thread and those to follow in the future, the leading title shown as [USFK Forums] will be changed as required to [POW] to be followed by dating representing the year-month-day (e.g. 51206 means 2005-December-06). It is aimed at highlighting forgotten issues involving POWs and those abductees to North. The Korean minister of unification and the Korean Red Cross have been hearing voices and articles that I have uploaded these days, and I do, as a result, hear feedbacks from them. In this sense, I will also get this article uploaded at respective websites. Now, here is a sad news reported by The JoongAng Daily as follows:

POW’s relatives hit government for lack of action

JoongAng Daily, December 06, 2005 ㅡ A South Korean prisoner of war, Han Man-taek, 72, whom China repatriated to North Korea in January, has been sent to a prison camp there, a civic organization official said yesterday.

Choi Song-yong, head of the Abductees’ Family Union, a non-governmental group, claimed that various sources have confirmed that Mr. Han was sent to a prison camp located in South Pyongan province in April.

Mr. Choi held a press conference yesterday with Mr. Han’s family members and also released a recording of talks between Mr. Han and his nephew in South Korea that took place in March.

In the phone conversation, Mr. Han told his nephew he had been beaten by North Korean authorities and was worried about the safety of his family members in the North. Mr. Choi said the phone conversation was recorded by a person sent into the North to help Mr. Han escape. “We tried to get him out but could not do it. We were just able to get the recording,” said Mr. Choi.

Kim Moon-soo, a Grand National Party lawmaker, also said yesterday he had submitted a bill to the National Assembly asking for an investigation. Mr. Kim said it needs to be asked whether Seoul handled the case properly and urged the government to bring Mr. Han home. Mr. Han, captured by the North during the Korean War, escaped into China late last year.

From there, he contacted relatives in South Korea who went to China but were unable to bring him back before Chinese police arrested him on Dec. 27. At the time of his arrest, Seoul asked China not to return Mr. Han to the North. In January, family members of Mr. Han returned a medal that Seoul had awarded him and urged the government to secure his release.

The South Korean Defense Ministry estimates that there are more than 500 South Korean prisoners of war still held in the North. Nevertheless, Seoul has been under fire from civic organizations here for its kid-gloves handling of the issue, despite giving masses of rice and fertilizer in annual aid to the North in recent years.

In August, inter-Korean Red Cross talks ended in discord for the first time in over four years, as Pyongyang’s representatives rejected requests to verify the fate of South Korean prisoners of war and civilians abducted by the North.

by Brian Lee