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KWAFA

Korean War Abductees' Family Association

Introduction

Korean War Abductees' Family Association (KWAFA hereinafter) was officially established on August 2, 1951. KWAFA publicized nationwide the general meeting through the advertisement on the Donga Daily Newspaper in order to encourage as many people as possible to be participated.

Before the official establishment of the association, surviving families of abductees actively worked on for repatriating the abductees. Wives of civilian abductees autonomously organized a kind of delegation and went up to Pyeongyang and visited Pyeongyang Prison by themselves. Further, they received the reports from surviving families of abductees and produced the lists of abductees swiftly. As a result of such activities, KWAFA was officially founded even after the Chinese' entering and Retreat on January 4, in the Southern end of Korean Peninsula, Busan.

KWAFA had worked for 10 years until 1960 and then had long been interrupted by chaotic political situation. Finally in 2000, the association was re-established with a new name, KWAFU. In spite of remaining families' relentless devotion for repatriating abductees, South Korean government wanted to block all the possibilities of North Korean espionage and kept close watch over the remaining families of North Korean abductees. Such surveillance led to cases of "guilt-by-association" and various forms of discrimination, and discontinuance of KWAFA in the end.

With regard to human rights of the remaining families of abductees, both North and South Korean governments violated their human rights by abandoning the responsibility to rectify the situation ruined by injustice.

The early documents that include petitions, regulations, minutes, quarterly operation report, etc. have been collected and preserved in the National Archives of Korea so as to analyze the situation at that time quite precisely. Among the documents, the most significant ones were contained herein.
1) Certificate of Registration for a Social Organization
(September 25, 1951)
2) Registering as an Organization
(January 7, 1954)
3) Family Association Regular Report
(December, 1954)
4) In Regards to the Submission of the Fist Regular Report
(March 31, 1959)
5) In Regards to the Submission of the Second Regular Report
(June 30, 1960)