[USFK Forums] Editorial: Repatriation of NK Spies

[C. Y. Lee]

[Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Tuesday, October, 18, 200] After five (5) years, no news whatsoever on South Korean POWs and those civilians taken to the North. Here is an editorial of the Korea Times on the subject published in its issue of September 4, 2000, which is self-explanatory.

Korea Times, September 4, 2000

[Today's Editorial] Repatriation of NK Spies

Sixty-three former North Korean spies and guerrillas were repatriated to North Korea through the truce village of Panmumjom, Saturday in a move to expedite rapprochement with the North.

The aging ex-convicts, some of them in wheelchairs and stretchers, crossed the heavily fortified border to return home after decades of confinement in South Korean prisons. They received a heroes' welcome from hundreds of thousand of people in Pyongyang who waved red flags and pink paper flowers, standing in neat lines as the cars carrying them passed through the main boulevards of the North Korean capital.

Some of the former prisoners, ranging from 66 to 90 in age, are those who were dispatched by the North as spies with a mission to disrupt the South Korean society in the 1960s while the others are guerrillas who fought against the South Korean soldiers during or shortly after the Korean War. They adamantly refused to renounce the Communist ideology during their three decade-long imprisonment here and stuck to be repatriated to the North.

No one will dispute that the return of elderly North Koreans, made in accordance with the agreement reached between South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, will help the two Koreas promote reconciliation and bury hatchet persisted in the last 50 years between the two sides.

But, now is the time to pay attention to the South Koreans being forced to remain in the North. In this regard, Seoul has already called for Pyongyang to repatriate South Korean prisoners of war who were captured by the North during the 1950-1953 Korean War and other South Korean civilians abducted by the North.

Now, what is needed for the North is to reciprocate the initiative of the South on the repatriation. The North, however, has kept mum on the demand. It is also undeniable that the South has failed to take up the issue intensively for fear of irritating the North, that may also disrupt the thawing mood being created since the South-North summit last June.

President Kim, during a television interview held Sunday in celebration of the Broadcasting Day, expressed hope that the repatriation of the 63 to the North would help the two Koreas resolve the problems of South Korean prisoners of the Korean War and citizens held in the North.

He also made it clear that about 700 to 800 South Koreans including the war prisoners are being detained in the North, promising that ``We must definitely resolve the problem as soon as possible.'' Regrettably, the government has not paid due attention to the plight of the family members of those being forced to remain in the North, who held a protest rally when the 63 former North Korean spies and guerrillas returned to Pyongyang, demanding reciprocal action by the North.

What makes us particularly exasperate is the reported suggestion of the South in recent South-North minister-level talks to deal with the South Korean war prisoners in the North, as part of matters related to family reunion. The war prisoners can in no way be included in the category of separated families. They should have all been released during the exchange of prisoners made shortly after the conclusion of the Korean War between the South and North Korea.

The 63 hard-core Communists, repatriated to the North, were not treated as part of separated families. The war prisoners and those abducted by the North are undeniably South Korean citizens. The matter should be dealt with as one of the foremost issues in the coming inter-Korean talks from a humanitarian point of view to relieve the pain of their families here.

North Korea will nonetheless use the return of the former spies and guerrillas as a tool to publicize its regime's achievement and to urge loyalty of North Korean people to their leader Kim Jong-il. However, the North should know that the repatriation is destined to put a political burden on Seoul till it too reciprocates the leniency with the release of South Korean war prisoners and other civilians abducted.

Any foot-dragging attitude on the matter by the North can make people indignant here and they may even oppose the planned food assistance to the North. Undoubtedly, an early solution of the matter will contribute greatly to enhancing the North Korean image. It is also apparent that the release of South Korean war prisoners and the other abducted will serve as an occasion for the North to be reappreciated by the people of the world, as a nation contributing much to humanitarianism.

The settlement, if realized, is set to build up greater confidence between the two sides. President Kim, as he promised in the TV interview, should step up his efforts in this direction. The issue should be raised squarely and boldly in the future talks with the North. Any low-profile attitude for fear of irritating the North is not warranted. Instead, the government should keep in mind the fact that it is fully responsible for bringing back those in question, to their family members at any cost, safely and in the shortest possible time.

입력시간 2000/09/04 17:02