China said to send S. Korean POW's family back to N. Korea

SEOUL/SHENYANG, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- Two North Korean family members of a South
Korean prisoner of war (POW), who escaped from the North in 2001 after being held
there since the 1950-53 Korean War, recently fled the communist country to China
but were repatriated to the North, the head of a group of families of abducted
South Koreans claimed Friday.
At a parliamentary session auditing the Unification Ministry, Choi Sung-yong, the
head of the private organization, argued that the North Korean-born daughter and
grandson of the former POW, now living in the South, were being interrogated at
Hwaeryong, North Hamgyeong Province, located near the border with China.
"That is correct," Choi answered when asked by Rep. Gu Sang-chan of the ruling
Grand National Party whether he was aware of the detainment of the POW's family.
Choi claimed Thursday that the two were sent back to the North after being caught
by Chinese authorities in late September while staying in a lodging facility in
Yenji, a small Chinese town near the border with North Korea.
They had been staying inside the South Korean consulate in Shenyang for some time
but were sent to a private lodging facility due to a lack of accommodations
inside the consulate, according to Choi.
Officials at South Korea's consulate in Shenyang said they had never come in
contact with the PWO's family members, and denied that they would have sent any
North Korean defector outside its building.
"Since 2006, we have not kept any North Korean defector outside the consulate
compound," an official said, adding the consulate is fully capable of admitting
defectors and that POW-related defectors receive even more attention.
Another consulate official, however, said that he had received a tip about a week
ago that family members of a South Korean POW were detained by Chinese
authorities, but not in Shenyang.
"If the report was indeed true, it is most likely that they were caught before
arriving at Shenyang," the official said, adding officials were looking into the
veracity of the report.
Another South Korean POW, now in his 80s, was being detained in a Chinese
hospital after being arrested by the authorities two months ago, according to
Choi and foreign ministry officials.
South Korean officials said they were negotiating with Chinese authorities
through various channels to repatriate the defector, who is currently being held
at a hospital in Yenji.
About 560 South Korean POWs remain alive in North Korea -- most of them over the
age of 70 -- the Ministry of National Defense believes. Less than 80 have
returned since the mid-1990s because Pyongyang refuses to formally admit holding
war prisoners against their will.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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