Former Korean War POW Kim Seong-tae, Who Defeated North Korea, Passes Away... "Wishes to Be Buried at Seoul National Cemetery"

Captured by North Korea during the war and forced into decades of "forced labor"
Lawsuit for damages against North Korea... Won in May this year
Last will left before death: "I want to be buried in Seoul National Cemetery"

Mr. Kim Seong-tae, a South Korean POW who was forcibly taken to North Korea for forced labor during the Korean War and later defected, passed away six months after winning a damages lawsuit against North Korea. He was 91 years old. With his passing, the number of surviving South Korean POWs in the country has decreased to 10.

According to the nonprofit organization Mulmangcho and others on the 1st, Mr. Kim passed away the previous night due to a chronic illness. During the war, he was carrying a wounded company commander in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, when he was hit by mortar fragments and captured by the North. He attempted to escape from the prisoner-of-war camp several times, served 13 years in prison, and after his release in 1966, he struggled to survive working in coal mines before defecting in June 2001.

Elderly North Korean defector and former South Korean POW Kim Seong-tae, who won a lawsuit for damages against North Korea, shares his story in an interview with Asia Economy. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

In September 2020, he filed a damages lawsuit against North Korea along with two other South Korean POWs. During the Moon Jae-in administration, the court repeatedly changed the judges without clear reasons, wasting time, and did not disclose the reasons for the trial delays.

Originally, five plaintiffs, including Mr. Kim, participated in the lawsuit, but three passed away during the prolonged trial. After 32 months, a favorable ruling was made in May this year, with the Seoul Central District Court ordering North Korea to pay each plaintiff 50 million won.

Mr. Kim’s funeral was held at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital funeral hall, and the funeral service will be conducted on the morning of the 3rd. His remains are scheduled to be interred at the National Seoul National Cemetery.

"If my homeland calls, anytime... I wish to be buried at Seoul National Cemetery"

A handwritten letter from Kim Sung-tae, a North Korean defector and former South Korean POW, to President Yoon Suk-yeol. Grandfather Kim earnestly appealed, saying, "My last wish is to be buried in the Seoul National Cemetery after I die."
[Photo by Mulmangcho Corporation]

In an interview with Asia Economy during his lifetime, Mr. Kim said, "In July 1954, I was caught while trying to cross south with seven colleagues and spent 13 years in prison. We survived on corn porridge and beans, and on days when even that was unavailable, I was so hungry I felt like I was losing my mind." He added, "I endured for decades with the hope of meeting my parents and hometown friends again, even if only in dreams. I still feel deeply wronged by the years I lived being treated like human garbage."

He continued, "We were oppressed without even being treated as human beings, and because of the label of being POWs, even my son had to live such a life. I want to expose to the world until the day I die how North Korea violated human rights and committed these atrocities." He emphasized, "If my homeland calls, I am ready to run to it even now," and earnestly requested, "I sincerely hope President Yoon Seok-yeol listens to the pain of South Korean POWs."

Additionally, in April, Mr. Kim revealed a handwritten letter he sent to President Yoon Seok-yeol through this publication. At that time, he said, "I am 92 years old this year, with little time left," and appealed, "My last wish as an old man is to be buried in the honorable land of Dongjak-dong at the National Cemetery." He repeatedly asked, "I would even accept exhumation (reburial). Please grant my wish."

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