Introduction

This book vividly describes how innocent people were abducted by the North during the Korean War. Because abductees were from all walks of life, we put 23 testimonies on abductees from different backgrounds in the book. The testimonies reveal how thoroughly and systematically North Korea had prepared for the abduction of South Korean civilians. This book also contains testimonies of two people who succeeded in escaping from the North after their abduction. Their testimonies are valuable primary sources that verify the abduction of South Korean citizens

Contents

Preface
4 To Restore History Lee Mi-il
Testimonies of the Korean War Abductees' Families
15 My Long Lost Father's Room Lee Kwang-soo
27 In the South Village Across the Hill Kim Dong-hwan
41 A Classical Scholar of Korea in Bloodstained Clothes Jeong In-bo
53 A Journalist With Justice As His Pen Lee Gil-yong
69 I'll Be Home Soon Kwon Tae-sul
79 Father's Returned Watch Kim Geun-ho
89 Even After All Those Years, Still Missing Father Kim U-jong
97 A Shepherd Who Could Not Leave His Sheep Behind Kim Yu-yeon
109 Is That You? Kim Jae-bong
117 Crying Over the Miari Ridge Kim Ki-jeong
127 With My Father Gone My World Seo Byeong-ho
139 Ho-cheol, Are You Still Alive? An Ho-cheol
151 The Name That Makes Me Choke With Sorrow Yun Tae-gyeong
159 Will We Be Able to See Each Other Again? Lee Gyu-chan
167 My Father's Expectation Embedded in My Name Lee Seong-hwan
185 Willing to Give Up His life For his so Lee In-hyeon
193 Crying Over the Duck of Mapo Lee Chae-deok
203 Brothers Who Shared Life and Death in Battle Fields Lee Hyung-ho
215 The Son of an In-Voluntary Soldier Choi Si-cheol
223 The Last Salute Choi Jun
237 Lessons from the War Choi Hong-sik
247 You Still Remain As a Romantic Husbane in My Heart Ha Gyeok-hong
Appendix - Testimonies of the Escaped Abductees
264 A Death March Kim Yong-il
274 A Miraculous Escape Park Myeong-ja

Glimpse

Based on the testimonies, there were several types of abductions. After occupying Seoul in just three days, North Korea encouraged people who were the targets of abduction to turn themselves in while fully operating with local leftists. The most coercive form of abduction was arresting those, who were making quick visits to their home while escaping from the North Korean officers, by the whistle-blowing of local leftists. Those who stayed home were told they were being taken for a quick interrogation and never returned. Young people were conscripted in the name of voluntary soldiers by gathering them in schools or companies, forcibly dragging them from streets or while they were visiting their homes.

If the target was not home, they took the son instead. By torturing the son, they made the father turn himself in. In some cases, this tactic worked, but there were also other cases in which a son was taken to the North because his father never showed up. We cannot imagine what fathers and sons went through after their beloved sons and fathers were abducted instead of them.

The testimonies extracted from video recordings of Kim Yong-il and Park Myeong-ja, who succeeded in escaping from the North after the abduction,are included in the book as an appendix. These testimonies provide meaningful information on the process of abduction. Though quite a few war abductees succeeded in defecting from North Korea, very few of them are still alive. The abduction case of Kim Yong-il, a member of the Northwest Youth Corp., well represents the typical abduction process of South Korean civilians, the so-called 'political prisoners' under the North Korean occupation. North Koreans forced them to write a confession statement several times to fully understand their activities in the past and to determine what class they belonged to until they were imprisoned in the Seodaemun Prison through the Internal Police Station and North Korean Political Defense Bureau. The case of Park Myeong-ja, who was a nurse, shows another type of abduction. She was taken to the North along with the wounded North Korean soldiers.