The US House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution on repatriating the Korean War abductees

Yonhap News
Dec. 14, 2011

In the afternoon of the 13th, the US House of Representatives held a plenary session and unanimously passed House Resolution 376 calling for the repatriation of POW/MIAs and abductees from the Korean War.

The resolution was proposed by Representatives Charles Rangel (Democratic Party), a Korean War veteran, in July and it demands North Korea admit the abduction and detainment of more than 100,000 South Korean civilians during the Korea War and immediately repatriate them to their families in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

The resolution also urges North Korea to provide information on the fate of the abducted civilians, allow the repatriation of their remains and hold family reunion meetings.

57 members of the House of Representatives, including 20 Republicans and 37 Democrats, were co-sponsors of the resolution.

As the resolution passed the plenary session of the US House of Representatives, the issue of repatriating POWs as well as abducted civilians will emerge as an international issue.

Moreover, as the resolution requests the US government raise the issue of abducted civilians to North Korea, the issue of abduction may be proposed as a discussion agenda in a bilateral dialogue between the US and North Korea with the goal of improving relations

The resolution passed the U.S. House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific unanimously on the 30th. In general, a resolution has to go through a plenary session of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to be proposed to the plenary session of the House of Representative. However, this resolution was an exception.

The US House of Representatives can pass a suspension of the rules, which allows a bipartisan bill to proceed in a swift manner, skipping the traditional review process. The resolution on the abductees benefited from this rule.

U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, explained the reason for introducing this resolution, and Representatives Charles Rangel led the discussion.

The persons concerned, including Lee Mi-il, President of the Korean War Abductees’ Family Union, were at the scene when the resolution was passed. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen mentioned KWAFU President when explaining the resolution.

Before the plenary session, Lee Mi-il and others had a briefing session to explain the meaning of the resolution and future plans.

Representatives Charles Rangel also had a press conference after the resolution had passed and shared his opinion on the process and meaning of the resolution.