Civilian Repatriations and the Attitude of the Communist Side
Feb. 19th 1954, 1st page, Dong-a Daily

According to reports, the communist side is spreading propaganda that there is no one in their custody who desires to return home. This is nothing less than what we expected, and it is the UN, which holds humanitarianism as its ideal, that has the natural duty to implement strong measures against this lie. It has already been pointed out multiple times that paragraph 59 of the Armistice Agreement is lukewarm measure.

This is because repatriation is limited only to those who “desire” it, and the communist side has used this nefariously to argue that no one desires to return home. It is also clear that even if an abductee did desire to return home from the communist reign of terror, they would fear for their lives. As a result, paragraph 59 is toothless.

However, aside from criticizing this worthless paragraph, there is another grave mistake that must be mentioned. This is the idea that regulations for the repatriation of noncombatants abducted by the communist side must be separate from those concerning POWs. Abducted civilians are not “displaced civilians” but are illegal POWs. They were not displaced by the ravages of war, but were arrested and abducted by the communist army and police. The abduction of noncombatants is not only a violation of international law but it also means that abductees have the same status as POWs. As a result, they have the natural right under the Geneva Conventions to be repatriated to their original place of residence, and should be placed under the care of the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission in accordance with the spirit of the Armistice Agreement. This paragraph should have been included in the Armistice Agreement. The UN clearly made a grave mistake when it did not strongly argue for it.
The UNC commander has already lodged a strong protest against the communist side for their illegal internment of almost 4,000 UN and South Korean soldiers. The UN must do the same for the 5,000 abductees and thoroughly question the communist side about their responsibility for such action. The communist side has been silent after receiving a protest letter about the illegal detention of POWs, but the UN should not allow the issue to slowly fade away.

The UN is waiting for the resolutions of the issue of refusing POW repatriations and the displaced persons issue before moving forward. The issue concerning the release of anti-communist POWs has more or less faded away, so its now time to thoroughly investigation the illegal detention of POWs. The issue of abducted civilians must also be raised. Even though the enemy side’s broadcasts do not represent the final official notice of the enemy, the plan for civilian repatriations starting from March 1 has each side presenting lists beforehand. However, if the enemy side says no one desires repatriation, the UN side should shutdown the repatriations and should demand they repatriate the civilian abductees being illegally interned by the North. This issue should not just be discussed at Panmunjom but should also be discussed in front of the world at the UN General Assembly.

The communist dictators have committed these crimes in Poland, East Germany and other areas of Germany, but the accumulation of such crimes does not mean the crimes are somehow less important. Is not handing done more serious punishments to serial criminals the principle of the law? The issues of illegal internment of POWs and abducted civilians is a serious offense that needs to be made clear to the communist side.