ID :
28643
Wed, 11/05/2008 - 16:45
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/28643
The shortlink copeid
Families of abductees by N. Korea continues sending anti-communist flyers
PAJU, South Korea, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- Families of South Koreans abducted by North
Korea continued to send balloons carrying anti-communist flyers near the
inter-Korean border Wednesday, refusing the government's request for them to
stop.
Twelve representatives of the families flew 10,000 leaflets attached to ten
balloons, inserted with Chinese yuans and U.S. dollars, from the southern side of
the Bridge of Freedom over the Imjin River that runs through the two Koreas.
The bridge was built in 1953 to help 12,773 South Korean prisoners of war cross
the river to return home at the end of the Korean War.
The families, who last week flew 40,000 similar leaflets to the North from South
Korea's East Sea, rebuked appeals by liberal lawmakers, including Park Ji-won, a
top aide to former President Kim Dae-jung, urging them to stop sending flyers to
the North.
The Unification Ministry had requested civic groups to "refrain" from sending
anti-communist flyers to the North, citing a past agreement between the Koreas.
North Korea demanded last month at a rare military meeting that Seoul take
immediate action to halt the dispersing of propaganda leaflets, threatening to
sever all ties with the South.
The two Koreas agreed in 2004 to halt propaganda warfare, which had involved
floating leaflets and blasting loud speakers across the heavily armed border.
In a written statement printed on the leaflets, the families demanded the release
of 487 South Korean abductees, including 436 fishermen.
North Korea kidnapped those citizens in the decades following the 1950-53 Korean
War, according to the Unification Ministry. Officials estimate there are 540
South Korean prisoners of war still alive in the North. Pyongyang denies holding
any South Korean nationals against their will.
South Korea returned 63 unconvicted North Korean prisoners, mostly Korean War
prisoners or intelligence agents, as a sign of peace and reconciliation following
the first inter-Korean summit in 2000.
"We only want to change the current situation in which we do not know whether our
families are alive or not," said Choi Song-ryong, who leads the association of
abductees' families.
"We do not want to provoke any conflict between two Koreas. We will continue to
fight until the North shows a sincere change in its attitude on the human rights
issues."
ygkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
Korea continued to send balloons carrying anti-communist flyers near the
inter-Korean border Wednesday, refusing the government's request for them to
stop.
Twelve representatives of the families flew 10,000 leaflets attached to ten
balloons, inserted with Chinese yuans and U.S. dollars, from the southern side of
the Bridge of Freedom over the Imjin River that runs through the two Koreas.
The bridge was built in 1953 to help 12,773 South Korean prisoners of war cross
the river to return home at the end of the Korean War.
The families, who last week flew 40,000 similar leaflets to the North from South
Korea's East Sea, rebuked appeals by liberal lawmakers, including Park Ji-won, a
top aide to former President Kim Dae-jung, urging them to stop sending flyers to
the North.
The Unification Ministry had requested civic groups to "refrain" from sending
anti-communist flyers to the North, citing a past agreement between the Koreas.
North Korea demanded last month at a rare military meeting that Seoul take
immediate action to halt the dispersing of propaganda leaflets, threatening to
sever all ties with the South.
The two Koreas agreed in 2004 to halt propaganda warfare, which had involved
floating leaflets and blasting loud speakers across the heavily armed border.
In a written statement printed on the leaflets, the families demanded the release
of 487 South Korean abductees, including 436 fishermen.
North Korea kidnapped those citizens in the decades following the 1950-53 Korean
War, according to the Unification Ministry. Officials estimate there are 540
South Korean prisoners of war still alive in the North. Pyongyang denies holding
any South Korean nationals against their will.
South Korea returned 63 unconvicted North Korean prisoners, mostly Korean War
prisoners or intelligence agents, as a sign of peace and reconciliation following
the first inter-Korean summit in 2000.
"We only want to change the current situation in which we do not know whether our
families are alive or not," said Choi Song-ryong, who leads the association of
abductees' families.
"We do not want to provoke any conflict between two Koreas. We will continue to
fight until the North shows a sincere change in its attitude on the human rights
issues."
ygkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
