“What torments me the most is the uncertainty of my father’s life or death, the anxiety that all these worries, assuming he is still alive, might now be for nothing.”
Choi Jin-young, the son of missionary Choi Chun-gil, who was abducted by North Korean authorities in the border area between North Korea and China in 2014, made these remarks at a public hearing titled “Appeal of Families for International Solidarity on Abductions, Detentions, and Enforced Disappearances” held at the conference room of the Inter-Korean Relations Management Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 29th. The public hearing was held by the Ministry of Unification to mark the “International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (August 30).”
Mr. Choi emphasized, “Regardless of culture, language, religion, race, and nationality, family is a common bond for all of humanity,” and “That is why family is the most precious emotion of humans and is like a part of our lives.”
He also told diplomats from countries that have diplomatic ties with North Korea, “I am worried that my father may have lost his will to live after being isolated for 10 years in a place with no outside news,” and asked, “Please somehow convey to my father that I, his son, will not let him go at any moment, and that he should not give up hope and hold on.”
The conference room monitor displayed a poster urging the repatriation of North Korean detained missionaries Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kook-gi, and Choi Chun-gil, jointly planned by the Ministry of Unification and the Lee Je-seok Advertising Research Institute. After seeing this, Choi appealed again, saying, “There are only two scenes in the video, from 2014 and 2024, but I hope that the other missionaries will be repatriated soon so that in my 2025 wedding photo, my father can be happily smiling with us.”
On this day, seven people attended the hearing and exposed the reality of human rights crimes in North Korea, including Choi, Kim Jeong-sam, the older brother of missionary Kim Jeong-uk, who is also detained in North Korea; Choi Seong-ryong, the son of Choi Won-mo, a ship owner also detained in North Korea; Park Hye-ja, chairwoman of the Association of Families of Abductees from the Korean War; Kim Hyeok, a standing member of the Advisory Council for Democratic Peace and Unification and the family of Kim Cheol-ok, who was forcibly repatriated; Han Bong-hee, an oriental doctor who lost her father to the forcible repatriation while defecting from North Korea; and Lee So-yeon, head of the New Korea Women’s Association who still has not confirmed the life or death of her son Han Jeong-cheon due to the forcible repatriation.
Additionally, ambassadors and officials from 20 embassies in Korea, including those from Spain, Ireland, Colombia, and the EU, also attended.
Guillermo Kirkpatrick de la Vega, the Spanish Ambassador to South Korea, said, “It is regrettable that the issue of North Korean abductees and detainees has not even been discussed at a basic level despite the passage of decades.”
Former Ambassador for International Cooperation on North Korean Human Rights Lee Shin-hwa called for international attention and solidarity. He said, “I think it would be good if Koreans took the lead in resolving (the North Korean issue),” but added, “I hope that this will contribute greatly to ensuring that the voices of victims are reflected in the ‘preliminary written questions’ and ‘recommendations’ of countries with similar positions at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UN Human Rights Council in November.”
The international community has continuously made efforts to improve human rights in North Korea, such as adopting UN resolutions on human rights in North Korea and drafting and publishing reports from the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in North Korea. However, North Korea still refuses to join the Convention against Enforced Disappearances.
The International Day for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances was designated as such on December 21, 2010, through a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, starting from August 30, 2011, to protect all people from enforced disappearances.
(Seoul = News 1)
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2024-08-29 10:04:37