S. Korea pushes to include abductee issue as official agenda item for inter

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks at a session of the foreign affairs and unification committee of the National Assembly in Seoul, Nov. 15. Yonhap

The unification ministry said Wednesday it will push to discuss the issue of South Koreans abducted by North Korea as an official agenda item if the two Koreas resume dialogue.

The move is part of the fourth basic plan for the development of inter-Korean relations, a five-year blueprint for the government's policy on North Korea. Earlier in the day, Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho reported details of the 2023-27 basic plan to the National Assembly.

The ministry said it will seek to raise not only the issue of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War but also that of South Korean detainees, abductees and prisoners of war in North Korea as an official agenda item for talks with North Korea.

The conservative Yoon Suk Yeol government views the issue of South Korean abductees and detainees as a pressing humanitarian one, saying it is a violation of human rights against South Korean citizens.

But as Pyongyang has not publicly acknowledged its abduction of South Koreans, it remains uncertain whether the North would be willing to discuss the issue during talks with the South.

Inter-Korean talks have been halted since December 2018, marking the longest-ever suspension, amid frosty ties between the two Koreas.

Of an estimated 3,835 South Koreans who were kidnapped by North Korea in the years after the Korean War, 3,310 people were sent back home and nine escaped the repressive regime, with the other 516 South Koreans having yet to return home, according to government data.

Currently, six South Koreans, including three pastors, are being detained in North Korea on charges of committing what Pyongyang claims are anti-North Korea crimes.

The ministry set up a task force in September to handle the issue of abductees, detainees and war prisoners. In a related move, the government held its first interagency meeting in 11 years Tuesday to explore ways to address the matter. (Yonhap)