Mediation Demanded at UN for the Repatriation of 84,000 Civilian Abductees
(Nov. 1, 1964, Cho-sun Daily, 1st page)

On October 20, our government requested mediation at the UN for the repatriation of the South Korean civilians abducted to the North. On the 31st, according to the Ministry of Justice, the government said that since it was not possible to come to a solution or reconcile with the North puppets about repatriating the 84,532 South Korean civilians forcibly abducted by the puppet military, they will formally request the UN to intervene and mediate.

The Ministry of Justice strongly demanded the UN Secretary-General use the name and influence of the UN to 1) take necessary measures confirming the safety and whereabouts of the civilian abductees 2) guarantee and take necessary measures for the return home of those wishing to do so 3) prohibit and censure savage acts of forcibly abducting unarmed civilians.

It was the first time the government sent the issue of repatriation of civilian abductees to the UN. On October 20th, the Ministry of Justice made a formal request to the UN through the Foreign Ministry, which even said they’d notify them in the event the issue was introduced at the UN.
The Ministry of Justice has revealed that they appealed to the UN, which has decided to make 1968 the Year of International Human Rights, in answer to the UN’s request to send in Korea’s human rights violations needing an international solution.

Ministry of Justice also authorities pointed to the North Korean puppet regime’s refusal to repatriate the abducted civilians as violations of Article 3, Paragraph 58, of the Armistice Agreement (which says persons with foreign citizenship and all Koreans who lived in South or North Korea before June 24, 1950, should be able to return to the South or North as they wish) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular Articles 3 and 13.