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Viewing cable 06SEOUL2243, REUNION REFOCUSES ROK PUBLIC ON ABDUCTEES

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06SEOUL2243 2006-07-07 02:45 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Seoul
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUL #2243/01 1880245
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070245Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8882
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0911
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 7395
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0981
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//OSD/ISA/EAP//
UNCLAS SEOUL 002243 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PREF PGOV KS KN
SUBJECT: REUNION REFOCUSES ROK PUBLIC ON ABDUCTEES 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  (SBU) The emotional June 28-30 reunion between Kim 
Young-nam, a ROK abduction victim, and his South Korean 
mother has increased domestic interest in the DPRK's 
post-Korean War abductions of ROK nationals.  Kim is one of a 
total of 485 South Korean abduction victims believed to be 
remaining in the North.  Despite ROKG efforts to address the 
abductee issue during official inter-Korean exchanges, little 
progress has been made because the DPRK continues to deny the 
existence of South Korean abductees.  Recently, the ROK 
government signaled a slight change in its policy by 
declaring that the ROKG would provide reciprocal amounts of 
economic assistance to the North for due progress on the 
issue.  Kim Young-nam's denial of his abduction, however, 
demonstrates that the DPRK position continues to remain 
unchanged.  Meanwhile, the Grand National Party (GNP) and 
conservative human rights groups continue to criticize the 
ROK government for its "quiet" approach.  END SUMMARY. 
 
KIM YOUNG-NAM ABDUCTION CASE 
---------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) In early June, the DPRK made a surprising 
announcement to accept the ROK government's request to 
include Kim Young-nam, a 1978 ROK kidnapping victim, in the 
14th round of Separated Family Reunions that was held June 
19-30 in North Korea.  The case of Kim Young-nam received 
intense media attention when his relationship with Megumi 
Yokota, a Japanese abduction victim, was revealed earlier 
this year.  The ROK government believes that Kim Young-nam is 
one of five high-school students abducted by North Korean 
agents between the years of 1977 and 1978.  Kim, who was 17 
years old when he disappeared from a beach near his South 
Korean hometown of Kunsan, North Jeolla Province in August 
1978, now lives and works as an intelligence officer in the 
North.  Kim's emotional reunion with his South Korean mother 
and sister during the fourth and last session of reunions 
held at Mt. Geumgang from June 28-30 was the highlight of 
Korean and Japanese media reports covering the event with the 
hope of shedding more light on Kim's abduction to the DPRK, 
as well as his relationship with Megumi Yokota.  Kim 
Young-nam, however, denied his abduction during a June 29 
press conference.  Kim also distinguished his case from that 
of other abductees that had participated in the Separated 
Family Reunions in past rounds by denying that his entry into 
the North was "voluntary," and went on to explain that he 
ended up in North Korea after being rescued by a North Korean 
vessel. 
 
POST-WAR ABDUCTEES 
------------------ 
 
3.  (U) Kim Young-nam's abduction case has brought renewed 
attention to North Korea's past kidnappings of South Korean 
citizens after the Korean War.  According to official 
statistics, a total of 3,790 people have been abducted by the 
North subsequent to the Korean War.  Of these, 3,298 (87 
percent) have safely returned to the ROK as a result of 
negotiations facilitated by the Korean National Red Cross. 
An additional seven have escaped the North, six of whom are 
currently living in the South.  At present, the ROK 
government believes 485 post-war abductees remain detained in 
the DPRK.  (NOTE: There is also a significant number of 
Korean War abductees who were forcibly taken to the North 
during the Korean War.  Estimates range as high as 84,532, 
though a total of 7,034 people are registered as missing in 
the 1956 list compiled by the Korean National Red Cross.  END 
NOTE.). 
 
4.  (U) Post-war abductee cases generally fall into three 
categories.  Approximately 90 percent of abductees are 
identified as ROK fishermen.  Beginning with the first 
kidnapping incident in 1955, North Korea has abducted a total 
of 3,692 fishermen, 434 of whom currently remain detained in 
the North.  The last fishing boat abduction incident was in 
May 1995, when North Korean Coast Guards seized eight 
fishermen aboard the "No. 86 Woosung-ho."  Three of the 
Woosung-ho crewmen were killed during a violent struggle with 
their abductors.  The rest of the crew was released through 
Panmunjeom in December 1995. 
 
5.  (U) A majority of abduction incidents occurred while 
fishermen were in or near North Korean territorial waters in 
the West and East Seas.  According to the testimony of Lee 
Jae-geun, an abducted fisherman who escaped to the South in 
2000, DPRK officials interrogated the crewmen of abducted 
fishing boats in sessions that could last up to several 
months.  While screening out possible spies, the North 
Koreans would pick those who were either physically fit or 
had a high level of education for "special training"; these 
individuals would not be released with the rest of the crew 
at the conclusion of the interrogation process. 
 
6.  (U) There have also been "special case" abductions 
involving a Korean Airline plane hijacking incident in 1969, 
a Navy I-2 boat abduction incident in 1970, and the abduction 
of two South Korean Coast Guards in 1974.  Of the 51 people 
aboard the Korean Airline flight, 12 people (four crew 
members, eight passengers) were prevented from returning back 
to the South.  The DPRK has refused to release any of the 
crewmen on the Navy I-2 boat, as well as the two Coast Guards 
captured in 1974. 
 
7.  (U) Finally, there are snatching incidents, such as the 
case of Kim Young-nam, in which ROK nationals have been 
grabbed from either ROK territory or abroad and taken to the 
DPRK.  There have been five known cases of ROK nationals 
being abducted by North Korean secret agents from within 
South Korea.  All of the five victims were high school 
students kidnapped between the years of 1977 and 1978 by DPRK 
agents, and all were kidnapped from the beach; none have been 
repatriated. 
 
8.  (U) A total of 20 ROK nationals have been abducted in 
third countries by North Korean agents.  Before the 
normalization of ROK-PRC diplomatic relations in 1992, most 
of the abductions were carried out in Europe, where North 
Korean agents had relatively easy access to South Korean 
citizens studying, working, or traveling in Europe.  The most 
recent cases have all taken place in China, however, as the 
number of South Koreans traveling to China increased after 
the normalization of ROK-PRC relations. 
 
9.  (U) Twelve of the 20 overseas abduction victims currently 
remain detained in North Korea.  The list of detainees 
include: a former Labor Attach at the ROK Embassy in West 
Germany (and his family), Lee Jae-hwan (son of former 
politician Lee Young-wook), and the well-known (and the last 
reported DPRK overseas abduction) case of Rev. Kim Dong-shik. 
 Three of the overseas snatching victims have managed to 
escape. 
 
INTER-KOREAN NEGOTIATIONS ON THE ABDUCTEE ISSUE 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
10.  (U) Since the inter-Korean summit in June 2000, the ROK 
government has attempted to address the abductee issue during 
official exchanges (namely inter-Korean Red Cross talks and 
inter-Korean ministerial talks) with the DPRK.  In 2002, the 
two Koreas agreed to cooperate on confirming the fate and 
whereabouts of "those reported missing during the Korean War" 
(i.e., Korean War POWs and abductees) during the 4th 
Inter-Korean Red Cross Talks, which provided the initial 
basis for the ROK to officially address the abductee issue 
during inter-Korean exchanges.  In particular, the ROKG has 
also continued to raise the issue of confirming the fate and 
whereabouts of "those reported missing after the Korean War" 
(i.e., post-war abductees) along with "those reported missing 
during the Korean War" (i.e., Korean War POWs and abductees). 
 The former category of abductees was not included in an 
official inter-Korean agreement, however, until recently, 
when the two sides agreed to cooperate on confirming the fate 
and whereabouts of "those reported missing during and after 
the Korean War" at the 7th Inter-Korean Red Cross Talks last 
February. 
 
11.  (U) The South Korean government regards these agreements 
as the DPRK's implicit acknowledgment of the existence of 
South Korean POWs and abductees in North Korea.  In contrast 
to its admission of having abducted Japanese nationals, 
however, the DPRK continues to deny that there are South 
Korean abductees (and POWs) in North Korea. 
 
12.  (U) The ROKG also recognizes that the DPRK's direct 
acknowledgment of its past actions regarding the abduction of 
South Korean nationals would be imperative in bringing about 
substantive progress on the issue.  Accordingly, the South 
Korean government has recently assumed a stronger stance on 
resolving the issue by expressing its will to provide 
reciprocal amounts of economic assistance to the North in 
return for: (1) confirming the fates and whereabouts of 
abductees; (2) reunions between abductees and their families; 
and (3) the repatriation of abductees.  At the same time, the 
ROK has also conveyed the message that it is willing to 
review the possibility of returning North Korean "long-term 
prisoners" in the South to the DPRK, if the abductee issue is 
successfully resolved. 
 
SEPARATED FAMILY REUNIONS 
------------------------- 
 
13.  (U) Meanwhile, Seoul has regularly included abductees 
(as well as POWs) as candidates for Separated Family 
Reunions, in order to address the abductee issue under the 
broader category of "separated families."  In the course of 
13 rounds of Separated Family Reunions from Nov. 2000 to Feb. 
2006, a total of 12 POWs and 12 abductees were able to meet 
with their families in the South, while the fates and 
whereabouts of approximately 110 POWs and abductees (includes 
those that participated in the family reunions) have been 
confirmed.  Abductees participating in the Separated Family 
Reunions, however, have all denied that they were abducted to 
the North by repeating statements regarding their "voluntary" 
entry into the DPRK. 
 
SOUTH KOREAN POLITICAL AND PUBLIC VIEWS ON THE ISSUE 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
14.  (U) On the other hand, South Korean political and public 
reactions regarding the ROKG's efforts to resolve the issue 
have been mixed.  The Grand National Party (GNP), South 
Korea's main opposition, has been generally critical of the 
government's "quiet" approach on addressing the issue, and 
has continually called on the ROK government to assume a more 
assertive position in its dealings with the North on the 
issue.  The position of North Korean human rights 
organizations has been mostly consistent with that of the 
GNP.  For example, Han Ki-hong of NKNet recently told poloff 
that the ROKG could not continue to take "lukewarm 
approaches" to resolving the issue of ROK POWs and abductees. 
 At the same time, abductee family organizations (that will 
be the direct beneficiaries of any positive developments on 
the issue) have been supportive of the ROKG's efforts to 
arrange reunions for abduction victims and their families 
(and confirm the fates and whereabouts of victims) during 
Separated Family Reunions. 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
15.  (SBU) The Roh Moo-hyun administration is under intense 
political pressure to account for the fate of some 485 
abductees.  For many South Koreans, such an accounting is the 
reciprocal side of extending economic assistance to North 
Korea.  So far at least, the ROKG has been held back, 
concerned that pushing the issue too aggressively would set 
back the inter-Korean engagement process.  South Korean 
public pressure is not, however, likely to die soon.  Kim 
Young-nam's improbable denial of his abduction has only 
renewed public awareness of North Korea's past kidnappings of 
ROK citizens and will prompt further calls for the ROKG to 
redress this matter.  END COMMENT. 
VERSHBOW