[Compiler's Note by C. Y. Lee: Tuesday, October 18, 2005] The BBC News has been sending news articles to me daily at 05:00 hours. Here is an article dated Saturday, September 2, 2000. This was a part of the events took place following Kim Dae-jung's historic visit to Pyongyang in June 2000 that led to one of the factors for his winning the Nobel Peace Prize 2000 for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular. The great man, however, has done nothing for South Korean POWs and those civilians taken to the North.


Saturday, 2 September, 2000, 05:58 GMT 06:58 UK

Korean communists go home

<BBC News> The bus carrying the 63 men pulls out of SeoulA group of 63 elderly communist sympathisers have made an emotional return to North Korea after enduring decades in prison in the South.

All of them were accused of spying for North Korea and they were held in solitary confinement. Shin In-young, 72, says goodbye to his mother
Many were beaten and tortured, but they all refused to renounce their political beliefs and have received a hero's welcome in the North.

Some wept as they left wives and other relatives in the South, who were not allowed to travel with them. The former prisoners, ranging in age from 66 to 90, some in wheelchairs or on stretchers, crossed the border at 1000 (0100 GMT), passing through the truce village of Panmunjon in the Demilitarised Zone.

Hundreds of North Koreans met them at the other side, cheering and clapping. "We warmly welcome the heroes who maintained their strong conviction," read one banner. Going home The former prisoners were given bouquets of flowers by schoolchildren and taken in Mercedes to a welcoming ceremony 200 metres away, where a brass band played revolutionary songs.

Cho Chang-son, 72, who spent 30 years in prison and has a wife and two children in the North, crossed the border on a stretcher. "I only regret that I am going home in ill health," he said. Woo Yong-gak spent 41 years in solitary confinement "One night here (in Seoul) cost me 36 years," said 73-year-old North Korean Choi Ha-jong, released in 1998 after 36 years in prison as a convicted spy.

The final long-term prisoners were only released from prison last year. Their return to the North was one of the agreements reached during the June summit talks between the two Korean leaders. It is intended to promote reconciliation between the two Koreas, but there has been criticism from many in the South, who have argued that in return agreement should have been reached to exchange South Korean civilians and prisoners-or-war held in the North.

South Korea's Unification Ministry estimates that around 300 prisoners-of-war and 450 civilians, many of them fishermen, are forcibly detained in the North - a claim Pyongyang rejects.

Demonstration Kim Suck-hyong bids a last farewell to a family member
The main opposition Grand National Party has accused the government in Seoul of being too soft on the North. Family members of those allegedly abducted also say the government should work harder to secure the release of South Korean citizens.

About 150 South Korean demonstrators shouted, "Return kidnapped people" as two buses of North Koreans slowed to cross a bridge near Panmunjon Earlier, in another step towards reconciliation between the North and South Korea, the two countries announced they had agreed to open a dialogue on military issues, but no details were released.

A story like this is hard for Americans to understand. Why would someone after all these years want to return to North Korea when so many are trying to escape? I would say that their claims of being tortured are probaly true and their beliefs were therefor re-enforced.

Mike

__________________
Visit USFK Classifieds, the FREE classifieds in Korea!