125 reports have already been submitted in one month

Kukmin Daily
Mar. 4, 2011


According to the Ministry of Unification, from March 3 to 31, a total of 125 reports on the abductions during the Korean War were submitted.

Among them, 61 reports which have passed the fact-finding stage are being reviewed by the working committees in 16 provinces and cities, and the other 64 are still in the fact-finding stage in the respective towns, counties, and cities.

Based on region, Seoul was the largest in number with 50 reports, followed by Gyeonggi province with 40, Incheon with 8, North Gyeongsang province with 6, Gangwon province and North Chungcheong province with 5 each, South Chungcheong province with 4, Gwangju with 3, and finally Busan and Jeju with 2 each. No reports have been filed in regions, including Daegu, Daejeon, Ulsan, North Jeolla province, South Jeolla province, and South Gyeongsang province.

Submitted reports are first reviewed by the working committees in 16 provinces and cities in 60 days (90 days at maximum) and then sent to the “the National Committee on Investigating Abductions by North Korea during the Korean War and Restoring Honor of the Victims.” In another 90 days (270 days at maximum), the Committee deliberates and decides whether people on the reports can be classified as abductees or not during the fact-finding stage.

The Korean government estimates that the number of South Korean civilians taken to the North during the Korean War was about 100,000 based on the seven lists of Korean War abductees published from 1950 to 1960, including the “List of Korean War Abductees.”

To report Korean War abduction, all it takes is submitting the necessary documents to the working committees in provinces and cities and diplomatic offices in each nation of residence within three years.