Grief, anger grow as Pyongyang remains silent on detained S. Koreans

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea remained silent on the fate of South
Koreans held there in the latest inter-Korean exchange Friday, as family members
and politicians here demanded their immediate release following Pyongyang's
pardoning of two American journalists.

The release of the journalists soon after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's
meeting Tuesday with former U.S. President Bill Clinton in Pyongyang renewed
despair and outrage in South Korea, as an engineer and four fishermen continue to
be held in the North without any word on their condition or whereabouts.
"The North side responded by saying there was no new situation today,"
Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said in a briefing, referring to
South Korea's inquiry over the four fishermen during a regular maritime phone
exchange in the morning.
The crewmen of the Yeonanho 800 were hauled to an eastern port in North Korea
last week after their squid fishing boat strayed across the inter-Korean maritime
border in the East Sea. The next day, North Korea sent a fax message saying the
fishermen were being investigated for illegal entry, which Seoul officials said
was "prompt" and a "positive" sign suggesting an early release.
But over the following week, Seoul received no news from Pyongyang regarding
developments in the investigation. Families of the fishermen appealed to North
Korea to free them, fearing they may be permanently detained as was the case
during the Cold War era.
"Please send the crewmen of the Yeonanho safely back to the arms of their
families. Please help us end this heart-wrenching pain," Park Mi-ryeong, daughter
of the boat's captain, Park Gwang-seon, said in a letter to North Korean leader
Kim. The letter was posted on an activist's Web site as it could not be sent to
Pyongyang.
North Korea has also been silent about the employee of Hyundai Asan Corp. who was
detained in late March on accusations of insulting the North's political system
and trying to persuade a local woman to defect to the South. Seoul officials say
they don't even know the whereabouts of the worker, only identified by his family
name Yu, though he is believed to be held near the inter-Korean industrial park
in the North's border town of Kaesong.
In a rare hopeful sign, Hyun Jung-eun, chairwoman of Hyundai Group, Hyundai
Asan's parent company, was granted an audience with a high-level North Korean
official, Ri Jong-hyok, during a memorial at the North's Mount Kumgang resort
earlier this week. Hyundai did not disclose what was discussed in the closed-door
meeting.
The prolonged captivity has enraged both ruling and opposition parties,
particularly with Yu's detention contrasting with the American women who were
allowed phone calls to their family and diplomatic access. Euna Lee and Laura
Ling from San Francisco-based Current TV were arrested in mid-March for illegally
entering the country and later sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.
"We cannot know why they don't even allow access to their fellow Koreans, and I
feel humiliated by this discriminatory treatment by North Korea," Rep. Kim
Jung-hoon of the ruling Grand National Party said in a senior members meeting.
Rep. Lee Kang-rae of the main opposition Democratic Party, which has been more
sympathetic toward the North, said, "North Korea calls for the
'by-our-nation-itself' spirit, but disappointingly, in reality, it discriminates
against South Korea compared to the United States."
Pyongyang cut off inter-Korean dialogue last year in retaliation against
President Lee Myung-bak's hardline policy. After taking office in February last
year, Lee linked economic aid to North Korea's progress toward denuclearization,
a shift from his liberal predecessors who pursued unconditional assistance and
reconciliation.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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