October 3, 2011: Calls are growing for the government to step up efforts to rescue South Koreans detained in North Korea, including a 69-year-old woman stranded for decades after being lured there with her husband. But given North Korea’s dismal track record on human rights, does it stand any chance of securing their return?
The question is being voiced by a grassroots campaign over the plight of the woman, Shin Sook-ja, and her two daughters who have been detained since 1985. Her husband, a retired economist, escaped after North Korean authorities sent him to Germany to entice more South Koreans to the Stalinist state. …
The U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea says Pyongyang has kidnapped over 180,000 citizens of 12 nations, including the South. Continue reading at The Korea Times.