"Letter to Yoon and Biden: POWs and Detainees Must Be Included in Summit Agenda"

North Korea Rejects Repatriation of 50,000 POWs and 100,000 Abductees
June 26 ROK-US Summit... "Must Include in Agenda and Statement"

Kim Jeong-sam, the brother of missionary Kim Jeong-uk who is detained in North Korea, along with human rights organizations, sent a letter to President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden on the 20th, urging that the issues of South Korean prisoners of war (POWs), abductees, and detainees be included as key agenda items and in the joint statement ahead of the South Korea-U.S. summit scheduled for the 26th.

Kim and six human rights organizations?including the North Korean Human Rights Citizens' Alliance, Han Voice, North Korea Justice Solidarity, the Korean War POW Families Association, Mulmangcho, and the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG)?sent the letter calling for the resolution of the POW, abductee, and detainee issues to Presidents Yoon and Biden. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Foreign Minister Park Jin, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, and Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup were also included as recipients.

At the US-Korea summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in November 2022, President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden are shaking hands. [Image source=Yonhap News]

In the letter addressed to the South Korea-U.S. leaders, Kim and the organizations pointed out, "North Korea has refused to repatriate 50,000 South Korean POWs and approximately 100,000 civilian abductees over the past 70 years," adding, "Since the 1953 Armistice Agreement, North Korea has not repatriated at least 516 POWs and civilian abductees, including those from the Vietnam War and the naval broadcast ship 'I-2' capture incident." North Korea has detained at least six South Korean citizens (Kim Guk-gi, Choi Chun-gil, Kim Jeong-uk, Kim Won-ho, Go Hyun-cheol, and one unidentified individual) in the past decade.

Kim and others urged President Yoon, "Please address the issues of POWs, abductees, and detainees in North Korea during the summit and joint statement with President Biden on the 26th," emphasizing, "Through this, we must realize shared values of human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and accountability in the Indo-Pacific region."

They particularly recalled that in November last year, the leaders of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan reaffirmed their joint commitment to the immediate resolution of the abduction issue through the Phnom Penh Statement. Following that statement, the United Nations expressed concern over POWs and those detained due to abduction and enforced disappearance by North Korea, resulting in a joint statement by 31 countries urging resolution of these issues.

Kim and the organizations stated, "It is unclear whether these issues were discussed at last May's summit, but the joint statement at that time did not specifically mention them," and reiterated, "We ask that the POW, abductee, and detainee issues be included in the agenda and joint statement of this summit, and especially that international diplomatic efforts be jointly led to resolve these issues, including the repatriation of remains of the deceased and the 'immediate repatriation of all'."

Thoroughly Neglected South Korean POWs... Will They Be Included in the South Korea-U.S. Agenda?

POWs of the South Korean Army being taken to the North. [Image source=Book They Saw the Korean War 1]

Since the July 1953 Armistice Agreement, the number of South Korean POWs who have not returned to their homeland is estimated by the military to be 68,849. In the past, the Ministry of National Defense inaccurately accounted for the POWs, declaring all of them as 'killed in action.' However, starting with the first returnee, the late Second Lieutenant Cho Chang-ho, who served as an observation officer in the Army's direct 101st artillery unit during the Korean War and returned in 1994, a total of 80 POWs had returned by 2010.

Most of these individuals escaped North Korea at great personal risk or returned with the help of civil society, including human rights organizations. There has been no case to date where the government has taken the lead in rescuing POWs. Government efforts have been limited to requesting confirmation of the survival of some POWs from the North during family reunions, and there has been virtually no activity to request 'repatriation' through the international community or the United Nations.

Meanwhile, on the 17th, the first trial was held for a damages lawsuit filed by five South Korean POWs who were taken to the North during the Korean War and later escaped, against Kim Jong-un. The lawsuit, filed in September 2020, alleged decades of forced labor in coal mines including in Hamgyeong Province, and the trial came 31 months after the filing. During the unexplained delays, three of the plaintiffs (POWs) passed away, leaving 91-year-old grandfather Kim Seong-tae as the sole plaintiff appearing in court.

On the same day, Tae Young-ho, a member of the People Power Party, issued a statement saying, "The lawsuit against North Korea for damages should proceed to the consideration of subrogation rights." He proposed, "South Korean soldiers detained in North Korea were subjected to forced labor in coal mines without sunlight because they were POWs. Since it is difficult to receive compensation directly from North Korea, the government should consider first compensating the victims and then exercising subrogation rights."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.