South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said Monday the government-recognized postwar abductee count had risen to 519 after three fishermen taken by North Korea in 1973 were added.
The ministry identified the men as Jo Gi-won, Kim Yang-hun and Kim Dong-ho. It said North Korea took them from the Daeyeong while the fishing boat was near Yeonpyeong Island in 1973. Yeonpyeong is a South Korean border island. The abduction occurred 20 years after the 1953 armistice halted the Korean War.
Their addition places them on a postwar list whose members’ families are eligible for consolation payments under a relevant law. The ministry approved 81 million won ($60,290) for Jo’s family members. It said it is looking for relatives of the other two men.
An association representing families of postwar abductees said the Daeyeong had been missing from records of boats whose crews were taken to North Korea. The group said the vessel’s place in those records changed after Kim Byeong-do, one of its crewmen, returned to South Korea in 2003.
The recognized total should be distinguished from a separate estimate of people thought to remain in North Korea, which the report also puts at 519. The Korea Herald reported that 3,838 South Koreans were taken north after the 1953 armistice, while 3,319 returned to the South. The shared figure refers to different measures: one is the government’s postwar recognition count, and the other estimates those still held in the North.
The Korea Herald also pointed to fishing cases near the inter-Korean maritime boundary and people aboard the Korean Air aircraft seized in 1969. These examples show the historical account extends beyond fishing vessels to include maritime and aviation incidents.
