Let Us Speak out the Names…
Event of Reciting the Names of 83,437 Abductees

Chosun Daily
Apr. 28, 2011


An event to read the names of the abductees was held in Wonpyo Park, located in front of the Chosun Daily building in Gwanghwamun, Seoul on the 27th.

Suzanne Scholte, president of North Korea Freedom Union (NKFU), delivered a speech demanding a solution to the issue of the Korean War abductions.

“Today we’ll be calling out the names of the prisoners of war and abductees who were taken to the North during the Korean War in the sincere hope of having them back. Lee Seong-hwan, Lee Seong-bong, Kim Ki-seop…”

Soon, Wonpyo Park echoed with the names of the prisoners of war and abductees.

The event to read the names of the abductees was held to mark North Korean Freedom Week. 50 members of the Korean War Abductees’ Family Union (KWAFU) took turns calling the names of 83,437 people.The names of 82,641 people abducted during the war, 510 people taken to the North after the war, and 286 foreign abductees including Japanese, were called out.

KNFU president Suzanne Scholte and Nishioka Tsutomu, chairman of the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea, participated in this event.

Suzanne Scholte said, “Kim Jung-il holds responsibility for abducting around 80,000 South Korean civilians and people from at least 10 nations.”

She added, “We will continuously make our utmost effort to find out why North Korea abducted POWs who fought for the freedom of Korea and to bring them back home.” KWAFU president Lee Mi-il said, “My mother who is now in her 90s is still waiting for my father to return. We do not have much time left.”