Abductee: Lee Ju-sin
Recorded Date: March 30th, 2006


Profile of Abductee

Name: Lee Ju-sin (male)
Date of Birth: September 15th, 1910
Place of Birth: Seoul, South Korea
Last Address: 664-3, Changsin-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Date of Abduction: On around 7th~9th of July, 1950 (age 40)
Place of Abduction: On the road of Chongno 4ga (street), Seoul
Occupation: Superintendent Public Prosecutor, Seoul Regional Public Prosecutor’s Office
Education/Career: Seoul National University
Dependents: Wife, 5 sons and 1 daughter
Appearance/Personality: Curly haired/ warm-heartedness and homely


Profile of Witness

Name: Lee Kyung-chan (born in 1939)
Relationship: 3rd Son
Type of Witness: Direct/indirect witness


Summary of the Abduction

- At the time of war, my family members were dispersed and hid in nearby close relative’s houses and the abductee also hid himself someplace else. Sometime later, he became concerned with safety of his family, put on traditional Korean dress with straw hat, and made a frequent visit to his family members when he got caught on the road of Jongno 4ga early in July and then taken away.

- A superintendent public prosecutor at the Seoul District Public Prosecutor Office, the abductee, right after the outbreak of the Korean War, scattered his family members to his relatives’ houses located nearby for refuge, and he made himself hide somewhere. He was taken away on the street of Jongno 4ga at the beginning of July and never heard since.

- Through an account of Bae Sang-ha’s escape published in a popular magazine called “Hope”, it was learned that my father had been in Seodaemun (West Gate) Prison together with a musician Kim Hae-song and a writer Pak Young-ae. It is presumed that they were abducted to PyeongYang, via Cheongnyangni, Wui-dong and Hantan River

- The 3rd son(testifier) made a request for the abductee’s information on his fate at the 13th meetings of the Separated Families Reunion in March 2006, but was informed of unavailability of confirmation of his fate. While undergoing this process, they found out that Lee Joo-guk(now deceased), younger brother of the abductee had been living in North Korea, and made it to meet him. But unable to get any information on situation of the abduction and his living conditions in the North


Detail of the Abduction

Q. What did he do when the Korea War broke out?
He held a position of Superintendent Public Prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutor Office. At the time of war, even on the day of the war breakout, he received telephone calls, attended scheduled meetings and went to the office as usual until we had to take refuge. No special activities other than his public service had he involved as far as I know. He had worked in a lineage of prosecuting before Korea’s liberation from Japan in 1945, and after the establishment of Korean government, he was appointed to the prosecuting job.

Q. How was he abducted to North Korea?
I didn’t witness the abduction scene. The Korean War broke out on Sunday, and I know that even on that day, he received a phone call and went to office. Even the next day, he went to office, because he had meetings to attend. When the situation was getting serious, he then began to think about ways to protect the family. He tried to send us to relative’s house located in a distance, but , due to circumstances, we had to come back home,
My father was frustrated at first, but he left us to nearby relatives, and he later also deserted home and hid himself in someplace else. First he went to uncle’s home at Jongno 4ga, and stayed there in basement until the North Korean forces invaded Seoul. Since June 28, a public notification was put up on bulletin boards, suggesting self-surrender the communist regime. Even in such the vortex of war, my father was concerned about his family, so he wore traditional Korean clothes, put on a straw hat and made his rounds to look for his children continuously.
I was at Euljiro 4ga in hiding, and I remember he visited me there. That was the last time that I saw him. That’s how he got caught visiting his children. On my uncle’s report to the Red Cross’ abduction registration list, my father is said to have been abducted in the back alley of Jongno 4ga. Later he was sent to Seodaemun (West Gate) Prison through Political Security Bureau. This was learned from a man who had successfully escaped from there.


Reason behind the Abduction

Q. Why do you think he was abducted?
The abductee was a high ranked government official. Everyone who served in public duties, they were marked for abduction


News after the Abduction

Q. Do you know where they took him?
According to the article in popular magazine called ‘Hope(希望)’, it was sometime in August when the contributing writer, the escapee, made it runaway from the street car which was transferring detainees from Seodaemum prison to Cheongnyangni-dong. The article says that my father was in that car, too.

Q. Please give us in more detail.
Bae Sang-ha, then chief editor of Yon-hap Newspaper, was captured but later made it to escape. He testified that he saw my father during his detention in Seodaemum prison. The article that he saw my father carrying a dung cart through corridor of a cell everyday confirms the fact of my father’s incarceration in the prison.
The article also says, “What happened to a musician Kim Hae-song, a writer Pak Young-ae, and a prosecutor Lee Joo-shin?” When in Cheongnyangni, Bae Sang-ha escaped the street car which had departed Seodaemun (West Gate) Prison for the North. I learned that my father was in that car and that it was to be headed for North Korea via Cheongnyangni, Wui–dong and Hantan River.
Further reference to relevant materials shows, Kim Hae-song, an entertainer and husband of a singer Lee, Nan-young who sang the song called ‘Tears of Mokpo’, was with my father in the prison, carrying dung carts together. Kim said that when they were taken to Hantan river via Cheongnyangni and Wui-dong and were staying one night there, abductees, being exhausted and painful, asked Kim to try the song of ‘Tears if Mokpo.’ Another escapee, Kim Yong-il, testified that “Kim Hae-song sang songs alongside Hantan River. As my father was with Mr. Kim alongside Hantan River, it’s presumed that he also was taken all the way to PyeongYang with other abductees.

Q. Did you make any effort to find him?
At the time, we weren’t the only ones who suffered abduction and there was no other way to find him. The war was still ongoing in confrontation with the North. There wasn’t my personal effort to find him. But when I was informed that the Korean National Red Cross would try to start a negotiation for repatriation of the abductees through the International Red Cross, I reported. Well, this can’t be said as personal effort but just a report.