Former S. Korean POW Flees North Korea

A former POW who fought in the Korean War has escaped North Korea and is about to return to South Korea, his home.

Choi Seong-yong, president of the Families of Abducted and Detained in North Korea, confirmed yesterday at a press conference, “A former South Korean soldier surnamed Kim is currently staying in a third country. He crossed the North Korean border at around 10 p.m. on June 14. He joined the South Korean army in August 1951 at age 17. He is now 74 years old.”

Choi released video clips showing Kim’s escape route and interviews in the third country.

A senior government official also confirmed, “We are talking with the country to bring [Kim] back.”

According to Choi, Kim was shot during the final stages of the Korean War in the Geumseong zone, which was flooded by the Chinese army. There, he became a POW.

Following the incident he worked at a mine in North Pyongan Province, North Korea for 40 years, since June 1954. In the early 1990s, he moved to North Hamgyong Province and worked as a farmer. His wife and four children remain in the North. All his siblings still live in the South.

In a written petition sent to President Lee Myung-bak, Kim pleaded, “I am sick and suffering. Please help me return to my country.”

Choi also urged that the South “. . . light candles for the thousands of POWs and South Koreans dying in North Korea.”