Many Abduction Victims Still Languish in N. Korea
Aug. 23, 2013


The government divides citizens abducted by North Korea into two groups -- those kidnapped during the 1950-53 Korean War and those abducted after.

A total of 96,013 South Koreans were abducted during the war, according to statistics compiled by the Korean War Abductees' Family Union, and 3,835 after, according to the Unification Ministry.

Among those who were abducted after the war, 3,310 or 86 percent returned to South Korea six months to a year after their abduction.

From 2000 to 2009, eight South Korean abductees who had lived in North Korea for around 30 years finally managed to escape and return to the South with the help of their families here. But 517 still remain in North Korea, 458 of them fishermen.