Ahead of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on August 30, families of victims forcibly disappeared by North Korea and human rights organizations have urged the government to establish repatriation measures through inter-Korean human rights dialogue.
On Wednesday, the North Korea Justice Alliance announced at a press conference held at the Press Center in Jung District, Seoul that it would present the realities of abductions and forced disappearances by North Korea from the Korean War to the present day.
This press conference was co-hosted by the Association of Families of South Korean Detainees in North Korea, the Association of Korean War Prisoners of War (POW) Families, the Korean Spirit for Reunification Alliance, the Center for North Korean Human Rights, the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, and the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG). The North Korean Democracy Committee, North Korean Human Rights, and the Council of North Korean Human Rights Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) also collaborated.
The organizations stated that despite numerous contacts and discussions with North Korea, successive South Korean governments have been reluctant to address the verification of the lives and the repatriation of citizens who have been abducted and forcibly detained by North Korea for over 70 years, including POWs. They called on President Lee Jae-myung’s government, which purports to represent the people’s sovereignty, to address the issue of enforced disappearances in accordance with international conventions and constitutional obligations.
In their statement, they demanded immediate verification of the lives and safety of all victims of enforced disappearances, including POWs, Korean War-era abductees, South Korean detainees in North Korea (such as Kim Jong-uk, Kim Kuk-gi, and Choi Chun-gil), and forcibly repatriated defectors. They also called for the return of remains for those who have died, the immediate release of arbitrarily detained individuals, and the prompt repatriation of all survivors.
In addition, they urged the establishment of a Dedicated Task Force for the Repatriation of POWs, Abductees, and Forcibly Detained Citizens under the President or Prime Minister in order to regularize inter-Korean human rights dialogue. They further called for compliance with the obligations of the Convention on Enforced Disappearances, the implementation of systematic support measures to heal the psychological and social trauma of victims, and the initiation of special legislation for truth-seeking and victim compensation. They also urged President Lee to wear a forget-me-not badge and express his commitment to resolving the abduction issue at the upcoming South Korea-Japan and South Korea-U.S. summits later this month.
The organizations stressed that their statement is not merely an appeal but a reminder of the policy and legal obligations that the South Korean government must fulfill under international law and its constitution. They emphasized that enforced disappearance is not just a historical issue but an ongoing crime, and as long as the South Korean government avoids resolving this issue, it forfeits its right and duty to protect its citizens and cannot evade moral and legal responsibilities in the international community.
Previously, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (UN COI) reported in its 2014 final report that North Korea systematically abducts the citizens of other countries under the guise of state policy, leading to large-scale enforced disappearances, with the number of victims estimated to exceed 200,000.
South Korea became a party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) in December last year. Article 24 of the convention states that victims and their families have the right to know the truth, the right to justice, and the right to compensation. Article 30 requires state parties to respond to requests for verifying the lives of victims’ family members.