Daughter of Aductee Pleads for Father’s Return

Here is a truly sad article in the Korea Times about a 35 year old daughter pleading to have her father who was abducted 18 years ago by North Korean agents while fishing returned to South Korea:

Choi Woo-young, 35, president of the Families of the Abducted and Detained in North Korea (FAD), still vividly remembers the day when her father and 11 other fishermen were abducted by North Koreans.
“The entire family got together to hold a service to honor our ancestors. My younger brother suddenly rushed into the house, saying that he heard that my father’s fishing boat, Tongjin-ho, was kidnapped,’’ said Choi, daughter of Choi Chong-suk, the captain of the boat.

The fishing boat was captured by the North near the maritime border on the West Sea on Jan. 15, 1987.

“He went out to sea to fish, and it was the last time I saw his face. He is still a 42-year-old father to me although 18 years have passed since his disappearance,’’ she said.

(…)

Ahead of her father’s 60th birthday, which falls on Oct. 26, she put an advertisement in a local newspaper yesterday with a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to return her father and the other crew members.

What is really amazing is that there are 3,790 other South Koreans just like this woman’s father that have been reportedly kidnapped by North Korea. You would think the South Korean government would be working hard at winning the release of these prisoners. No, think again:

“I am disappointed with the government although it said it was trying its best. But there have not been any visible results. When the South Korean government sent North Korean “long-term unconverted prisoners’’ to the North, we were hoping that our family members could return to the South,’’ she said.

She said that the South Korean government should place priority on the abduction issue in its relations with North Korea as Japan has done.

“The Tokyo government received Pyongyang’s apology about the abduction of a dozen Japanese, but the Seoul government didn’t even try to raise the issue of thousands of detained citizens in the North,’’ she said.

“When I saw the abducted Japanese return to their country, I felt a sense of shame due to our government’s lack of concern about this matter,’’ she added.

You can say what you want about Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi but he cares about his citizens, unlike some politicians here in Korea. It is the same thing with President Bush. He would reduce Pyongyang into a parking before 3,790 Americans ever got kidnapped by North Korean agents. You would think that if President Roh put a little pressure on the North Koreans, he would be able to get some of the hostages returned. He could pressure the North Koreans by with holding fertilizer and other aid unless they give up some of the hostages, but no they give them all the aid they want and even gave them back their spies that were arrested and held here in Korea. Absolutely mind boggling.

Sad story, I sincerely hope this woman will be able to get her father returned.