NGO URGES RECOGNITION OF KOREAN WAR ABDUCTEES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000988 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2037 TAGS: PREL PREF PGOV PINR KS KN SUBJECT: NGO URGES RECOGNITION OF KOREAN WAR ABDUCTEES Classified By: Amb. Alexander R. Vershbow. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Meeting with the Ambassador on April 3, the president of the Korean War Abductees' Family Union asked that the DPRK Human Rights Report and the Report on Terrorism both be expanded to include the issue of Korean War abductees. KWAFU alleges that the DPRK abducted over 80,000 South Korean civilians between 1950 and 1953. As compelling as some of these cases may be, the USG should be cautious about getting ahead of the ROKG on this long-standing, bilateral issue between North and South Korea. END SUMMARY. GROUP ALLEGES OVER 80,000 ABDUCTEES -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador on April 3 met with Lee Mi-il, President of the Korean War Abductees' Family Union (KWAFU), and KWAFU Communications Coordinator Christina Park. According to Lee, whose father was abducted by North Korean police in 1950, the DPRK between 1950 and 1953 abducted over 80,000 South Korean civilians in order to secure human resources and deplete South Korea of leading public administrators, scholars, and other members of the intelligentsia. Family members of these abductees formed KWAFU in the 1950s. Lee reestablished it in 2000 after several decades of inactivity. KWAFU staff now work to raise awareness of the issue and collect historical documentation regarding the abductions. Lee said that KWAFU research in 2002 uncovered a 1952 ROKG document that listed the names and circumstances of 82,959 abductees. Discovery of that document, she said, led the Ministry of Unification (MOU) for the first time to include wartime abductees in their annual White Paper on North Korean Human Rights. ¶3. (SBU) However, MOU divides abductees into two categories: those taken during the Korean War and the 485 taken after the War, Lee explained. MOU representatives told her in March 2005 that the ROKG would address wartime abductees only after resolving the 485 post-War abductees. Unsatisfied with MOU's response, Lee approached Rep. Chun Yu-ok (GNP) to propose legislation that would support research for War abductees. The bill, entitled "Recovery of Honor and Support for the Korean War Abductees," is currently pending in the Committee for Unification and Trade Relations. KWAFU: ISSUE SHOULD BE ADDED TO U.S. REPORTS -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Lee said that it was difficult to see relations between the U.S. and the DPRK improve without first resolving the abductee issue. Specifically, she asked that the annual State Department Human Rights Report, which notes the 485 South Koreans abducted after the war, and the Country Report on Terror be expanded to include Korean War abductees. Separately, Lee asked Post to pass a letter with this request to the Secretary. Post has forwarded this correspondence to EAP/K. ROK AWARENESS NEEDED AS WELL -------------- ¶5. (C) Observing that the wartime abductees issue was, first and foremost, a bilateral concern between North and South Korea, the Ambassador praised KWAFU for raising awareness on this issue both in the ROK and abroad. He said that whether or not the Department includes the issue in its reports, the USG had not lost sight of the nature of the DPRK. A dialogue on human rights, he said, would be an integral part of any discussion on normalization. ¶6. (C) The Ambassador, who noted that articles on North Korean human rights and refugee affairs appear more often in American than ROK press, said KWAFU's biggest challenge would be to get the South Koreans more interested. Many in the ROK preferred to talk positively about the future of North Korea rather than review transgressions of the DPRK's past. The Ambassador suggested that KWAFU focus on the ROK public, NGOs, or companies that do business in North Korea. The more KWAFU could raise consciousness in South Korea and put the issue on the ROK-DPRK agenda, the more possible and appropriate it would be for the U.S. to engage the DPRK on this and other human rights issues. Lee acknowledged the Ambassador's point, but said that many South Korean politicians harbored pro-North Korean sentiments and that it was difficult to generate interest in the abductees in the current political climate. COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) Korean War abductees could be a legitimate issue to raise in any future peace regime discussions. One proposal, for instance, could be to add the wartime abductees to the family reunion list, from which they are currently excluded. However, we should resist the temptation to get ahead of the ROKG on this issue. A close examination of this turbulent period could unearth difficult facts about acts committed by both sides of the conflict. VERSHBOW