Husband and Wife Couple-Former National Army Captives-at Risk of Being Sent to North Korea

Husband and Wife Couple-Former National Army Captives-at Risk of Being Sent to North Korea. November. 20, 2003 22:49. by Yoo-Sung Hwang yshwang@donga.com.

It was reported that a former national army captive, Jeon Yong-il (72), and his wife, Choi Eun-hi (68), a couple who were arrested by the public peace authorities in Hangzou, Zhejiang while trying to escape to South Korea with forged passports, were sent to an asylum for North Korean escapees in Tumen, located adjacent to North Korea.

The Korean Embassy in China said on November 20 that they were carrying on negotiations with Chinese authorities to keep the couple from being sent to North Korea.

An embassy source said that “they asked the Chinese side to protect the couple from personal danger and to return them to South Korea because it is certain that they were former national army captives.”

However, their return to South Korea is uncertain since the asylum for North Korean escapees in Tumen where the couple was sent is actually a waiting place where the North Korean secret service and border guards come to take the escapees back to North Korea.

“The action of the Chinese public peace authorities sending them to Tumen appeared to have followed a general guideline in dealing with arrested North Korean escapees rather than from a decision made by the central government when we take into account the time it took,” said an embassy source adding, “It will be difficult to send them to North Korea as the Korean government has formally asked for their return to Korea.”

Jeon and his wife escaped from North Korea on September 15 and revealed their identities and their intentions to return to Korea to the Korean Embassy in Beijing several times through a Korean-Chinese proxy. However, the Korean Embassy said that they had to wait until their identities were proved since they were not on the list of national army captives who had survived. After this, they went to Zhejiang and were arrested while trying to fly to Korea using forged passports. In regards to the reproach for their irresponsible dealing with the return of national army captives who escaped North Korea, the Embassy explained, “Jeon didn’t come to the consulate by himself to apply for exile but instead sent a Korean-Chinese proxy. We told them to wait in Beijing while we were looking for their names on the survived captives list, but they seem to have been arrested as they hurried to return to Korea with forged passports at another person’s instigation, perhaps a broker.”

According to the representative of the Association of Families Abducted by North Korea, Choi Seong-ryong, who has been supporting Jeon’s return to Korea, Jeon is a native of Youngcheon, Gyeonbuk and joined the national army in 1951 and served in the 6th division 19th regiment 3rd battalion 2nd company 2nd platoon until he was captured at the battle of the highland of Jae-am Mountain, Kimhwa-gun in July 1953. Jeon said that his younger brother, Jeon Soo-il, his only blood relation, is living at his home.