Request for UN Involvement in the North Korean Abductees Issue
November 3, 1964, Chosun Daily Second Page Editorial


1. The South Korean government made a formal request to UN Secretary-General U Thant on October 20 for the UN to intervene in the issue of repatriating those abducted by North Korea during the Korean War. Article 3, Clause 59 of the Armistice Agreement reads: “All those with foreign nationality and all Koreans who lived in North and South Korea before June 24, 1950, shall return to either Korea if they wish.”

However, this clause was long ago thrown in to the wastebasket and while the International Red Cross has led a long, hard fight to rescue abductees, it has ended in fruitless effort. During the annual discussions on the “Korean question” in the General Assembly, South Korean representatives have raised this issue, but it has long become a meaningless yearly ritual. Viewing this with deep grief, the Chosun Daily, along with the South Korean Red Cross, began a “one million signature campaign” this past summer. Within just 55 days the campaign was able to collect 1,101,980 signatures which are now being prepared to be submitted to the UN.

The campaign was an unforgettable mournful plea by South Koreans to their abducted countrymen - whose numbers reach 84,532 by official tallies, and separated not by a foreign land but by the division of their own country. We believe that the government’s decision to request intervention by the UN on this intolerable problem is due to its inability to sit by and watch such an intense show of popular emotion. We again cry out for the rescue of our countrymen toward the authority of the UN, which cherishes human dignity and values as the fountain of justice and peace.

2. The South Korean government has requested the UN to assist in implementing the following: 1) measures needed to confirm whether the abductees are safe and their whereabouts; 2) measures required to guarantee the abductees’ voluntary repatriation; and, 3) a strong, immediate and effective resolution, under the name and authority of the UN, that condemns and prohibits the savage abduction of unarmed civilians.

It is clear that the South Korean government would like to solve the abductee issue before the “year of international human rights” - or rather, the government carries the conviction and hope that this issue should be solved in order to make “the year of human rights” more than just an empty rallying cry.

We are well aware of the ludicrous tactics and ridiculously far-fetched excuses the north Korean puppets have made until now, so we are unable to hold any optimism for a resolution even if the UN does adopt the abductee issue as an official agenda item. We are also well aware of the fact that there is no way to solve this issue other than through the UN and the International Red Cross.

We sincerely hope that the UN will fairly evaluate this request, which wagers the Korean people’s painful yearning and last hopes, and that it shed light on those dejected abductee families and brother countrymen who are moaning underneath the chains of communist hell. The one million signatures collected will soon be submitted to the UN by representatives of the Chosun Daily and South Korean Red Cross, and we firmly believe that the sentiments of the Korean people, having placed their trust in the UN, will resonate.