Mar. 11, 2013
International Human Rights Group, “Korean War Abductions Constitute a War Crime”

“Newly established UN North Korea COI must investigate issue”

More and more human rights activists are calling for the Korean War civilian abduction issue to be investigated by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which will be established as early as the end of this month by the U.N. Human Rights Committee.
UN Watch, an international human rights group, and the Korean War Abduction Research Institute, an arm of the Korean War Abductees’ Family Union (KWAFU), have released statements saying a U.N. investigation must take place on the abduction of civilians by North Korea during the Korean War.

“As we mark the 60th anniversary of the Armistice Agreement, we must correct the historic mistake of failing to discuss the issue of wartime civilian abductions,” said KWAFU President Lee Mi-Il. “Some people argue that North and South Korea should quickly signed a peace agreement, but we believe that genuine peace cannot be obtained until the Korean War civilian abduction issue is resolved. An investigation into the abductions and the delivery of justice must occur first.”

There are a total of 84,532 people who were abducted during the Korean War by North Korea, according to South Korean government annual statistics in 1953. Recently, a list of 653 abductees written by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on October 15, 1950, was released. North Korea’s campaign of civilian abductions during the Korean War was a war crime that violated international law prohibiting civilian abductions during wartime.

“The main responsibility for these abductions falls on North Korea, but the U.N. Command (UNC) is also responsible for having failed completely in the talks concerning Korean War abductees during the armistice negotiations,” said Kim Mi Young, the head researcher for the Korean War Abduction Research Institute. “The soon-to-be-established COI on North Korea must include the abduction issue in their investigation.”
MarzukiDarusman, the special rapporteur on North Korean human rights, presented his annual report on North Korea’s human rights situation to the UN Human Rights Committee on the 11th.

This report stated that “During the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 there was a very large number of forced disappearances.” The report also included a description of North Korea’s hijacking of a Korean Air aircraft in 1969.