June 23, 2001, Chosun Ilbo
[KWAFU] “Walking the Path of Abduction” Event on the 25th
Lee Kil Sung


The Korean War Abuctees’ Family Union (KWAFU) will be holding a “Walking the Path of Abduction” event from 8:30 am on the 25th. Participants will walk from Independence Park (the site of Seodaemun Prison) to Imjingak.

Seodaemun Prison was were large numbers of anti-communist figures were held and massacred during the Korean War, and was also the departure point for many of them when they were taken to North Korea. Event participants will start their walk at the front of the prison and then walk 8 km to Gupabal. There they will take a car to within 1 km of Imjingak and then walk the rest of the way.

The walk will be preceeded by a reading of a letter sent by one abductee to his son and a reenactment of an abduction. Event participants will be provided with fist-sized balls of rice for lunch when they reach Gupabal.

The event is the first for KWAFU, which was established in November of last year. More than 400 people are scheduled to join the event so far, including elderly people who experienced the Korean War and the families of abductees and their children.

Members of the female defector group “Azalea Group” and the Central Committee for Displaced Persons will also participate.
“We hope that the participants get a taste of the difficulties those abducted and their families experienced through eating rice balls and walking a long distance.”