The family of Megumi Yokota, the Japanese woman kidnapped and held in North Korea until her reported death in 1994, has arrived in Seoul to meet the family of Kim Yeong-nam, a South Korean man who was also kidnapped by the North. Seeing the two families tie yellow ribbons on a tree in expression of their longing for the return of their loved ones shows you something of our tragic history. It would be hard to express the pain and suffering felt by the Yokota family for the loss of their daughter and by the Kim family, which is unable to meet with its abducted family member. That is why the government must take a serious and urgent approach to the plight of South Korean abductees and POWs. Humanitarianism is a universal truth and basic value in human history.
Fortunately, during Red Cross talks this past February, it was agreed that the two Koreas will work on confirming the status of persons "whose whereabouts became unknown" during or since the war. During cabinet-level talks last month, each side pledged to "cooperate for a substantial resolution." Details about exactly how that will be done and what follow-up measures there are going to be were not outlined in the recent joint statements, however, and one does worry that time could just continue to go by with nothing more than this agreement in principle. That surely keeps victims' families from knowing any peace. Most of the 485 confirmed kidnapping victims and the estimated 500 South Korean POWs in North Korea are very advanced in age. Every moment counts.
Naturally, one must guard against the attempt by some to use, together with the North Korean human rights issue, the story of Megumi Yokota as part of a strategy to isolate Pyongyang. Using her for political purposes will not help truly resolve the matter. However, we have arrived at the point where the issue of the South's abductees must be fully resolved if there is going to be landmark progress in economic cooperation with North Korea and other areas of intra-Korean relations. This is no longer something that should be approached in a thoroughly quiet manner out of fear of a negative reaction by the North. It does not need to be all out in the open, either, but the government needs to be strong towards the North regarding the issue at the negotiating table and behind-the-scenes contact. It also needs to demand that the North confirm whether Kim Yeong-nam is the same person as "Kim Cheol-jun," who was Yokota's husband.
The North needs to know that it cannot go on stubbornly insisting that it does not have any abductees. If there is anything wrong with the way some South Koreans who are in the North ended up there, there should be no reason why the North cannot admit this and apologize to the government and South Koreans, just as it once did for Japan. Once there is a serious change of attitude on the part of the North, confidence will grow between the governments and the people. We hope to see change from the North based on cool-headed judgment.
Koreans must lead in healing pain of abductees' families |
