May 16, 2008,
Munhwa Ilbo


“Korean War Abductions Aimed at Destroying South Korea,” Argues Head of National Policy Research Institute Kim Gwangdong

“Most of the abductees during the Korean War were public servants, politicians, police, and soldiers who were key to establishing the country. The abductions were not done randomly, but was an organized campaign to destroy the country.”

This was the argument made by Kim Gwang Dong, the head of the National Policy Research Institute and vice-director of the Korean Development Institute, at a forum commemorating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of South Korea. The forum was organized by the Korean War Abductees Research Institute and was held at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

In a telephone interview with this newspaper has before his presentation, entitled “The Establishment of South Korea and Characteristics of Wartime Abductions,” Kim said that, “If the effort and expenses used by the Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun governments for the North-South summits, or just a fraction of the time and expenses used by former President Kim Dae Jung to receive his noble prize, were used to find a resolution to the POW issue, the pain felt by thousands of families of the POWs and abductees would be alleviated to a great extent.”

“North Korea demanded continuously and over a long period of time to the South Korean government to return Lee In Mo and 64 other unconverted prisoners,” he continued. “The fact that an authoritarian government could protect its citizens, while a liberal democratic government not only spends millions of dollars each year to support an authoritative government but also is unable to protect its citizens, is preposterous.”
“Change in North Korea should be measured not only by changes in the nuclear issue or to its threats to South Korea but also in how far it goes to resolve the abductee issue,” he added.

According to official government statistics, there are 82,959 Korean war abductees and and 59,964 people who were victims of massacres. “South Korean society has overlooked the realities of what happened during the Korean War while placing too much emphasis on specific incidents like the No Gun Ri massacre by American soldiers,” Kim said.