[USFK Forums] Unification Minister Takes Pragmatic Tact on Abductees [Chosun]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Saturday, February 25, 2006

Unification Minister Takes Pragmatic Tack on Abductees

Updated Feb.24,2006 19:40 KST

Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok said Friday that he will approach the issue of South Koreans abducted by North Korea in terms of practicability, which means he will focus on confirming their whereabouts and bringing them back home.

Appearing on CBS radio, the minister said that it was a significant achievement that the two sides agreed to work together to ascertain the fate of South Korean abductees as well as prisoners of war during the inter-Korean Red Cross meeting.

(Commentary by C. Y. Lee: It took 1,150 days from September 8, 2002 to get anything agreed between two Koreas on those being defined 'as missing.' It was originally agreed at the 4th Inter-Korea Red Cross Talks for further dialog, but there was no progress in the meantime.)

“If we just assign blame at this point, is the North going to send them back?" Lee said. “We will exert all our efforts to do whatever is necessary to provide a good cause (for repatriation) to the North, without offending them"

According to government figures, a total of 3,790 South Koreans have been kidnapped by the North since the armistice, and 3,305 have since returned. A Unification Ministry advisor said that the government may consider offering economic incentives for the North to repatriate the abductees.

(englishnews@chosun.com)



url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/ht...602240029.html