『He Is Alive』"I believe he is alive."
(No. 4) Feb. 24, 1952, Dong-A Daily
News lacking detail...

Moderator: Have you heard any news since your husbands’ abductions? Any news about where they are being detained or what they are doing? Mrs. Gang, please tell us.

Mrs. Gang (Park Ok-chul): I met a person who said he had seen my husband walking toward Dongdu-cheon after being taken by North Korean soldiers. After that, I heard that he was detained in Pyongyang Prison.

Mrs. Park (Kim Yeong-ae): From the day my husband got abducted until today, I have been going door to door to personally meet those who have been abducted but managed to escape. So I’ve heard a lot of news, both directly and indirectly. From all the accounts I've heard, I think most of the abductees are still alive.

Mrs. Yang (Yang Me-rin):I’ve heard this and that, but it’s all very vague.

Mrs. Gu (Park In-suk): I’ve heard many rumors. Some say that the abductees were detained at a prison before their transfer to the North. But these rumors are not reliable and most of them are just products of wishful thinking.

Mrs. Son (YeonKyeong-hwa): I would give anything for a piece of news about the abductees. I heard detailed news twice in Busan, both times from escaped abductees. One said that he escaped with my husband from a prison within the Internal Bureau in Goyang-gun at around 10 on the morning of September 16 when the building was bombed. He said they’d hidden under a tree but got captured. He was released after interrogation, but said my husband would have been taken to Pyongyang. The other escaped abductee said that he was with my husband all the way to Pyongyang, and that my husband was alive until then.

Mrs. Hyeon (Baek Suk-ryang): Nothing I’ve heard is reliable, but I've heard that he is in Jagang Province or Manchuria.

Mrs. An (Kim Bu-rye: I've heard that he is in Kang-gye, but I'm not sure.

Mrs. Lee (Lee Dal-nam): After my husband's abduction, I heard no news of him for a while. In late August I heard that he was in Seodae-mun Prison, and in late October I heard from a person who’d escaped from Pyongyang that he was in Pyongyang Prison. After that, no more news.

Mrs. Park (Yu Song-juk): On October 28 in the same year as my husband got abducted, I heard from Gye Gang-sun and MunJak-won that he had arrived in Pyongyang on a truck on August 1 and stayed in Pyongyang Prison till October 2 in good health.

Moderator: What you’ve said suggests that you heard news of the abductees until the ROK Army recaptured Pyongyang, but no news after that. Do you believe that they are still alive?

Mrs. Gang (Park Ok-chul): I believe my husband has survived somehow and is still alive.

Mrs. Park (Kim Yeong-ae): I have strong faith that he is one of the survivors.

Mrs. Yang (Yang Me-rin): Rumors are not reliable, but I firmly believe that he is alive.

Mrs. Son (YeonKyeong-hwa): I firmly believe that he is alive.

Mrs. Hyeon (Baek Suk-ryang):I believe that he is alive.

Mrs. An (Kim Bu-rye): I strongly believe that he is alive.

Mrs. Lee (Lee Dal-nam): I believe that he is definitely alive.

Mrs. Park (Yu Song-juk): I have strong faith that he is alive and thinking about the family members he left behind.