About KWAFUHistory
History
Abridged Timeline of Korean War Abductees' Family Union (KWAFU)
Foundation and Development
| 1951 | Aug. | | | The original Korean War Abductees' Family Association named "Association of Families of Persons Kidnapped at the time of June 25th Incident (KWAFA)" was organized and the first president Chang Gi-bin was elected at the foundation meeting |
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| Sept. | | | KWAFA was registered to the Bureau of Public Information of ROK | |
| 1953 | Aug. | | | The first general assembly of KWAFA was held and the first president, Yang Mae-ryun, was elected (KWAFA halted its activity in 1960) |
| 2000 | Nov. | | | Re-establishment of the KWAFA under its new name: The Korean War Abductees Family Union |
| 2001 | Sept. | | | Incorporation of KWAFU; certificate received from the Ministry of Unification, ROK |
| 2005 | Jun. | | | Launched Korean War Abduction Research Institute (KWARI) |
Discovery of The Abductees' Lists
| 2001 | Jan. | | | ¡ºList of Displaced Civilians¡»made by Korean Red Cross (7,034 persons, 1956) ¡ºReplies to the Inquiries on Welfare and Whereabouts of the Displaced Civilians¡» made by the North Korean Red Cross (337 persons, 1957) |
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| Dec. | | | ¡ºList of Seoul Municipality Victims¡» made by the Bureau of Statistics (4,616 persons, 1950) | |
| 2002 | Jan. | | | ¡ºKorean war abductees list¡»made by KWAFA (2,316 persons, 1951) |
| Feb. | | | ¡ºList of the Korean War Abductees¡»made by ROK Government (82,959 persons, 1952) | |
| Mar. | | | ¡ºList of the Abductees of June 25th Incidents¡» made by Ministry of Home Affairs (17,940 persons, 1954) | |
| Aug. | | | ¡ºLetters of Notification on Displaced Civilians¡»abductees' families submitted written documents to the KRC (7,034 persons, 1956) ¡ºLetters of Inquiry on Displaced Civilians¡»also written in English so that it can be submitted to the International Red Cross |
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| 2009 | Feb. | | | ¡ºList of Persons Kidnapped at the Time of June 25th Incident¡»made by KWAFU (2,514 persons, 1951) |
| Jul. | | | Part of ¡ºList of Displaced Civilians¡»made by ROK representatives of UNC Military Armistice Commission (11,700 persons, 1963), the whole list were obtained from Institute for Military History Compilation | |
| 2011 | Apr. | | | ¡ºList of Persons Kidnapped at the Time of June 25th Incident¡» made by KWAFA (2,527 people, 1951) |
| 2012 | Nov. | | | The oldest list of 654 victims of abductions committed by the North when they occupied Seoul area, obtained and arranged by CIA of USA |
National Activities
| 2001 | Feb. ~ | | | One-million-signatures campaign launched until the fate of the abductees ascertained |
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| Feb. 22 | | | 1st forum under the theme of "Reality and solutions of the Korean War Abductees" | |
| Jun. 25 | | | Held 1st march "Walking the north-bound abduction path" | |
| Nov. 15 | | | A quarterly magazine¡º¶æ(Wish)¡»was first published | |
| 2002 | Jun. 20 | | | Computerization of the Korean War Abductees list and launch of search service on the KWAFU website with help of Professor Kim Myeong-ho of Gangneung-Wonju National University |
| 2002 | ~2013 | | | 1st special lecture at Gangneung-Wonju National University on "The Korean War and Damages of Abduction" as of today, a total of 21 lectures were given |
| 2010 | Mar. 26 | | | Promulgation of Act No. 10190 (Official gazette No. 17223) <Act on Investigating Abduction by North Korea during the Korean War and Restoring Honor of the Victims> |
| Jun. 7 | | | The 1st Day of Remembrance of the Korean War Abductees; Designed and began to wear Mulmangcho (Forget-me-not) badge to remember the forgotten abductees | |
| Jun. 15 ~ 30 | | | Photo Exhibition to encourage reporting of the Korean War Abductees | |
| Jun. 25 | | | 120,000 flyers released on the Baekma Highland toward the North in a hope of reaching the abductees | |
| Dec. 13 | | | Launch of the Committee for investigating Abduction by North Korea during the Kroean War and Restoring Honor of the Victims under the Prime Minister in accordance with the special law and the 1st general meeting attended by three representatives from KWAFU | |
| 2011 | Jul. 27 | | | 2nd Korean War Abductees Remembrance Day: sub-event was preview of a new documentary "Truth about the damages of the Korean War Abduction" at the Korea Press Center |
| Dec. 13 | | | H.Res.376 <Calling for repatriation of POW/MIAS and abductees from Korean War> was adopted unanimously in House of Representatives | |
| 2012 | Mar. 5 | | | Announcement of the 1st essay contest on the Korean War Abduction |
| Jun. 28 | | | The 3rd Day of Remembrance "Let us not forget the Korean War Abductees" was held and the awards | |
| Oct. 15 | | | Published ¡ºStories of Korean War Abduction¡», compiled stories of essay contest winners | |
| Oct. 22 | | | Published English testimonies of the families of abductees ¡ºOngoing Tragedy¡» | |
| Dec. 10 | | | Published Korean War abductees' testimonies ¡ºOngoing Tragedy¡» | |
| Dec. 31 | | | Published a Korean War abduction pictorial history book¡ºPeople of No Return¡» | |
| 2013 | Mar. 10 ~ 16 | | | Trip to Geneva Held seminar with UN Watch as a parallel event during the HRC's regular session Had a meeting with the special rapporteur Marzuki Darusman |
| Jun. 17 ~ Aug. 2 | | | Photo Exhibition about Korean War Abduction was held in the 6 Metropolitan City Halls around the nation | |
| Jun. 24 ~ 28 | | | The Mulmangcho (Forget-me-not) badge dissemination nation-wide campaign "Let us not forget the Korean War Abductees." in remembrance of 60th anniversary of Armistice | |
| Jun. 24 | | | Aired a special program for the Korean War Abductees by KBS | |
| Jul. 27 | | | Documentary "People of No Return" was broadcasted on KBS in the Saturday prime time | |
| Aug. 16 | | | Officers of UN COI had closed interviews with wartime abductees' daughters who were born in NK and defected from NK | |
| Aug. 23 | | | Attended in the public hearing as witnesses in the New Millennium Hall of Yonsei University (President Lee Mi-il commented in the beginning of testimony, then 4 members' testimonies and the commissioners' respective questions went on through an hour) | |
| Oct. 24 | | | 2013 Seoul International Symposium <International Cooperation as the Means toward Solving Civilian Abductions> was held in the Korea Press Foundation Bldg. Sponsored by National Committee on Investigating Abductions during the Korean War; Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of Korea | |
| Nov. 18 | | | Full-page advertisement on the 33rd page of Chosun Daily (For the purpose of promoting the official report produced by Korean Government in 1950's and let the surviving families of abduction victims to register abduction cases) The secretariat is one-year prolonged active until Dec. 31, 2014(Total 4,110 cases of abduction were reported to the Secretariat) |
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| Nov. 20 | | | Submitted a communication to the International Criminal Court in Hague. Had a meeting with Judge Kwon Oh-gon of International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and also with Mr. Song Sang-hyun, the President of ICC, regarding the wartime civilian abduction issue to be interpreted as a form of continuing crime. | |
| Dec. 30 | | | KWAFU and Korea Legal Aid Corporation concluded an MOU for arranging abductees' family register | |
| 2014 | Mar. 17 | | | President of KWAFU Ms. Mi-il Lee testified her own story in the parallel event of 25th Session of Human Rights Commission. |
TEL : (82)2-967-0625
