'Warm Sharing' for Korean War POW Veterans Ahead of Hangawi

A Warm Day - The Korean War POW Families Association Delivers Chuseok Gifts

Warm gifts were delivered to families of Korean War POWs ahead of the Chuseok holiday.

The nonprofit organization Warm Day (CEO Kim Kwang-il) announced on the 12th that it participated in a sharing event for Korean War POW veterans, sponsored by the Korean War POW Families Association. This event was organized to celebrate Hangawi, the nation’s biggest traditional holiday, and 30 gift sets of nut gangjeong (traditional Korean sweet crisps) were delivered to the families of Korean War POWs.

The non-profit organization Warm Day, supported by the Korean War POW Families Association, delivered Chuseok gifts to Korean War POW veterans.
[Photo by Korean War POW Families Association]

Warm Day has been continuously fundraising after learning about the hardships faced by Korean War POWs who were captured during the Korean War and taken to North Korea. In addition to this event, they also provide support for living expenses, summer blankets and pillows, daily necessities, fruits, and groceries.

Son Myunghwa, representative of the Korean War POW Families Association, said, "Korean War POWs have always been socially marginalized, but recently there has been growing interest in this issue, for which we are grateful. We hope that the 12 surviving Korean War POW elders and their families who returned to South Korea can spend the upcoming Chuseok holiday with warm hearts."

According to the Ministry of National Defense, during the 1953 armistice talks, the United Nations Command estimated the number of missing South Korean soldiers at approximately 82,000. However, the communist side only brought lists of 4,417 UN prisoners of war (3,189 American soldiers) and 7,142 Korean War POWs to the negotiation table. North Korea, which had initially boasted of capturing tens of thousands of POWs, drastically reduced the number to mobilize labor for postwar reconstruction.

At that time, the allied forces repatriated all prisoners of war from the People’s Army and Chinese forces who wished to return, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and the armistice agreement, but the number of Korean War POWs finally handed over by the North was only 8,343. It was estimated that at least 50,000 were still detained afterward, but North Korea has maintained the position that there are no POWs currently held. The government also neglected efforts to rescue them, and only 80 returned on their own by 2010.

Meanwhile, on the 4th, the Korean War POW Families Association met with Elizabeth Salm?n, the UN Special Rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights, and delivered a letter calling for the establishment of a "Korean War POW Truth Commission." At the end of last month, they also sent an open letter to Cho Tae-yong, Director of the National Security Office, urging the enactment of a government bill to establish a Korean War POW Truth Investigation Commission.

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