▲ Ros-Lehtinen, a U.S. House of Representatives lawmaker and chair of the foreign affairs committee, meets with KWAFU President Lee Mi-Il and her mother at a hotel in Seoul and gives her a framed copy of the resolution urging for the repatriation of Korean War abductees.


May 26, 2012
U.S. Lawmaker Shakes Hands with Family of Abductee


“The U.S. House of Representatives has not forgotten about the some 100,000 South Koreans who were abducted by North Korea, and we will work together with the South Korean government and the international community to resolve the issue.”

During a recent visit to Korea, Elena Ros-Lehtinen, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, met with Lee Mi-Il, the president of the Korean War Abductees’ Family Union (KWAFU) at a hotel in Seoul. While giving her a framed copy of the resolution that was passed last year, the lawmaker promised her support for the resolution of the issue. Ros-Lehtinen along with Charles Rangel, a Korean War veteran, led the passage of the resolution last year.

The meeting of the two came after the lawmaker became aware that the 135 cm tall Lee, who suffers from a damaged spine, has long worked for the resolution of the abductee issue. The congresswoman decided it was her duty to give Lee a copy of the resolution herself.

Lee’s eyes began to tear up after Ros-Lehtinen gave her the framed copy of the resolution. “It’s a very moving to me that a lawmaker in faraway America would care so much about the feelings of abductee families,” she said. Lee’s father was abducted by North Korean soldiers in his home in Cheongryangri-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, on September 4, 1950.
Ros-Lehtinen also met with other members of KWAFU, shaking hands with them and giving them words of encouragement.

The family union members who met with her all wore a picture of loved ones who had been abducted by North Korea on their left chest. Seeing this, Ros-Lehtinen said, “I can guess how difficult it has been for you over all these years. Your family members have not been forgotten. We will continue to work for their repatriation.”