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| ▲ Kang Jong-suk, the official in charge of human rights and humanitarian affairs at the unification ministry, makes opening remarks at a meeting of a government consultative body on North Korean abductees at the government complex in Seoul on Nov. 14, 2023. (Yonhap) |
S Korea-NK abductees
S. Korea resumes task force after 11-yr hiatus on its citizens held in N. Korea
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea held a meeting of its task force on the issue of South Korean abductees in North Korea for the first time in 11 years, the unification ministry in charge of relations with Pyongyang said Tuesday.
The move came as conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has emphasized the need to make the international community aware of North Korea's human rights abuses.
The task force is designed to work to address the issue of South Korean detainees, abductees and prisoners of war in North Korea, a pressing humanitarian issue that was also underscored during the trilateral summit at Camp David among Yoon and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, in August.
The task force meeting -- the first since June 2012 -- also involved officials from the foreign, defense and justice ministries, as well as the police and the National Intelligence Service, South Korea's spy agency.
"The North Korean regime continues to deny the presence of abductees, detainees and prisoners of war, and remains unresponsive to our requests to verify their status and repatriate them," Kang Jong-suk, the official in charge of human rights and humanitarian affairs at the unification ministry, said in opening remarks.
Kang admitted the government's action to protect its own citizens and console the families of those detained in the North had been "insufficient," vowing to step up measures going forward despite stalled inter-Korean relations.
As part of efforts, the task force plans to expand cooperation with civic groups and religious organizations, and increase support for families of those detained in the North, while working together with relevant organizations in foreign governments for the repatriation of the detainees.
The government also plans to strongly urge Pyongyang to verify the status of South Koreans held in North Korea, and to call for their repatriation, according to the unification ministry.
Of an estimated 3,835 South Koreans who were kidnapped by North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War, 3,310 people were sent back home and nine escaped the repressive regime, with the other 516 South Koreans having yet to return home, according to government data.
Six South Koreans, including pastor Kim Jung-wook, have been held in North Korea for years, with four of them having family members in South Korea. Their fate remains unknown, as the reclusive regime has yet to provide any information on their well-being.
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