[imText1]A group picture of abducted 31 fishermen, which was taken during their ideological education tour in North Korea, was recently acquired by the Family Assembly of Abductees to North Korea and was released by Chosun Ilbo on the 19th. The group was abducted to the North between the years 1960 and 1970.

According to representative of the Family Assembly, Choi Sung Yong, “The picture was acquired by an individual in North Korea in March. Of the 33 in the picture, 31 are all abducted fishermen, with the exception of two North Korean leaders.”

Representative Choi said, “The names of 23 people, including Park Si Dong (32 at the time), crewmember of the octopus-catching fishing vessel ‘The Cheunwang,’ abducted while operating in the East Sea in August 1975, and Choi Wook Il, who escaped to South Korea after being abducted to North Korea, were confirmed by Chosun Ilbo after investigations were conducted regarding six of the people in the picture.”

The remaining individuals in the photograph were identified as Park Young Suk, Jung Bok Sik, Kim Yong Bong, Chung Chul Gyu, Choi Hyo Gil, Tak Chae Yong, Choi Young Chul, Kim Woo Sung, Park Chun, Suh Tae Bong, Sohn Woon Soo, Kim Sung Chul, Hom Sung Gil, Park Dal Mo, Chung Gun Mok, Bae Hyun Ho, Lee Sung Gyun, Yun Jong Soo, Lee Byung Gi, Kim I Jun, Kim Il Man, and Hong Bok Dong.”

Representative Choi explained that the photo was taken during a ideological education tour for fishermen mandated by the North Korean government, which was to have taken place at the Cultural Contact Office at the Foreign Operations Division in Songdo of Kangwon Province. This was to have also included a tour of the ‘Najin Revolutionary Battlefield Site’ in September of 1985. Choi noted that the photo was the last taken of all the fishermen together

The crew of “The Hweeyoung” and “The Ohdaeyang” were abducted by the North in 1971 and 1972. After acquiring the picture through China, Choi released it first in February 2005.

He pointed out, “None of the persons shown in this newest picture are the same as those featured in the photo published in 2005.” In particular, he remarked, “Tak Chae Yong was not included in the list of abducted fishermen announced by the government. This attests to the fact that the South Korean government has been negligent in the maintaining information on abductees.”

He emphasized, “If the government authorities are in possession of other photographs, they have to take the initiative to publish them so that the abductees’ roster can be accurately verified. Taking into consideration the current age of the abducted fishermen, the effort has to be made to repatriate them as soon as possible.”

The Family Assembly is awaiting contact from those who have information on the eight of the 31 individuals in the picture who have not yet been identified. With the exception of Park Si Dong and “person A”, the family members of the remaining 21 fishermen who have been identified have yet to be located. Information regarding the whereabouts of family members can be reported to the Family Assembly at 82-2-480-2503.

While discussing the abductees and the military prisoners of war (POW) issues at the National Hearing last March, Chief of the Ministry of Unification Kim Ha Joong stated, “We will resolve these problems by recognizing them as national issues.” This would be an entirely different approach from the Kim Dae Jung-Roh Moo Hyun administrations.

However, up until now, the North Korean government has not acknowledged the existence of South Korean POWs and Abductees.

The administration estimates that there are some 560 prisoners of war and around 480 abductees in North Korea, but the exact number of survivors is not known. A person related to the government said, “Through the High-Level General’s Talks and other such meetings, our government has raised the POWs and the abductees issue at least 25 times, but no progress has been made due to resistance from the North.”