DATE=9/1/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=KOREAS - SPY REPATRIATION (L)
NUMBER=2-266043
BYLINE=ALISHA RYU
DATELINE=HONG KONG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: As part of the landmark summit accord reached
between the two Koreas in June, South Korea on
Saturday will return North Koreans convicted years ago
for spying for the communist North. But as VOA's
Alisha Ryu reports, many in the South are criticizing
the Seoul government for failing to secure the return
of South Korean prisoners of war and detainees in
return.
TEXT: Sixty-three elderly North Koreans are scheduled
to cross the heavily fortified border Saturday to
return to homes they have not seen in decades. Among
the men - who have served an average of 36 years in
South Korean prisons for spying activities - is 70
year-old Woo Yong Gak - freed last year after spending
41 years in solitary confinement. He was considered
the world's longest-serving political prisoner.
But the homecoming will be a bittersweet occasion for
some of the former prisoners. They are forced to
leave behind their wives and children in South Korea.
About 20 North Koreans offered repatriation have
chosen to remain in the South with their families.
In Seoul, the move to repatriate North Koreans is
raising angry questions about the fate of South
Koreans believed to be living in North Korea against
their will.
Demanding a matching gesture by Pyongyang, opposition
party members are calling for an immediate return of
some three hundred prisoners of war and more than four
hundred South Korean citizens North Korea abducted
over the past five decades of Cold War hostility. The
majority of these victims were fishermen who strayed
across the contested sea border. The Seoul government
says some of its kidnapped citizens have been spotted
in recent years appearing on North Korean propaganda
broadcasts.
The issue of repatriating South Koreans has reportedly
been raised during the second round of ministerial-
level talks in Pyongyang due to conclude Friday. But
it is not known how North Korea has responded.
South Korea expects its repatriation gesture to lead
to more cooperation and eventual reconciliation
between the two sides. North and South Korea did not
sign a peace treaty at the end of the Korean War in
1953 and still remain technically at war. (Signed)
NEB/HK/AR/GC/PLM
NEB/
01-Sep-2000 06:36 AM EDT (01-Sep-2000 1036 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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