The UN Should Not Neglect the Abductees Issue
Nov. 30th 1955, 1st page, Dong-a Daily


There was a report that President Rhee ordered the South Korean UN representative to strongly sir up world sentiment about the illegal abduction of civilian figures by the communists during the Korean War, and another report that the South Korean representative raised questions about this issue during his speech to the General Assembly. It is curious that there has been no further reports on this issue, a situation that makes it unclear how much progress has been made thus far. This newspaper has stirred up attention from the UN about this issue before, but would like to place responsibility on the UN for what has happened.

We know quite well how the communists operate, and we find it difficult to believe that they will easily submit to repatriations. However, with the ultimate goal of rescuing the abductees in mind, we intend to put forth our best efforts to raise world sentiment about the issue. We feel there is a need to prepare all possible methods to do this.

The first stage of these methods is the composition of a detailed and accurate investigation white paper. The family’s union has created a list of the names of approximately 3,000 abductees, which has probably found itself in the hands of Red Crosses around the world and the General Assembly of the United Nations. However, this list is still incomplete and evidence of how abductees were abducted, clear testimony and the terrible treatment they suffered must be recorded in order for the issue to be raised effectively to the world.

There are already examples of such investigations with plenty of evidence, including the investigation into the whereabouts of missing UN POWs, the report by the Catholic Association on the Vietcong’s obstruction and brutality towards refugees in Vietnam, and the report on the massacre of 5,000 people by a Polish officer in Katyn Forest. Of course, an enormous amount of money will be needed to write such a report. Raising such money will be difficult through the efforts of the families alone, and to increase the objectivity of the report’s results the government should conduct the investigation. There are a number of possibilities to do this.

1. The UN General Assembly passes a resolution to establish a special investigation team that collects
evidence on-site.
2. The UN General Assembly could order the United Nations Commission for the Unification and
Rehabilitation of Korea to conduct an investigation.
3. Red Cross organizations from across the world could send special investigation teams to investigate.
4. The UN Command could conduct the investigation.
5. The South Korean government or National Assembly could produce and release a white paper.

Among all of these possibilities, we would like to demand that the UN General Assembly send a special investigative team to investigate onsite. This is because it would be the best way to ensure fairness while also giving the world a strong impression from the beginning.

Going back to the example given above about the Katlyn Forest Massacre, the US Congress spent a massive sum of money for the report that found that the massacre was committed by Stalin, not Hitler. Does the American Congress have no willingness to investigate the abduction of civilians - an international tragedy in Korea and a monstrous crime against humanity - that is equal to that of the Katlyn Massacre?

These abductions are unique in the span of modern history. The act of not repatriating wartime POWs for 10 years was committed by the USSR and Communist China after World War Two. Also, when the enemy forces entered East Germany there were reports that they abducted German engineers and scientists; however, they were abducted simply for use in expanding the enemy’s military-industrial complex.

There is also the fact that huge numbers of laborers and farmers were forcibly relocated from the Baltic coast and other areas. However, the act of a communist army abducting huge numbers of leading figures in politics, economics, and culture as they retreat from losing a war has only occurred in Korea. It is impossible to measure the importance of public figures, and nameless farmers or laborers from a humanitarian standpoint.

Even if one non-combatant was abducted, such a crime must be thoroughly condemned. Politically speaking, however, more gravity is placed on the killing or abduction of public figures. If such crimes occurred in Europe then it would become big news worldwide and a major issue in Cold War diplomacy. The abductee issue alone provides the justification for South Korea to launch an expedition to take over the North, and the UN would have no moral authority to stop it.

At this point, the world should be able to realize how much patience South Korea has had until today toward the abductee issue, and that they have maintained a cold attitude toward - to the extent of negligence. From a humanitarian perspective, it is only natural to argue for a speedy resolution to this issue.

Taking things one step further, from a political perspective this issue is like gunpowder. The UN General Assembly should fairly evaluate this fact, and without further delay adopt decisive action. We hope that the UN does not further test the patience of the Korean people.