Month: February 2012

February 15, 2012: Hwang In-cheol, the head of an advocacy group for the victims of the 1969 hijacking of Korean Air Flight YS-11, has filed a lawsuit against one of the alleged abductors, Cho Chang-hee, with the South Korean prosecutor’s office.

In a telephone conversation with Daily NK yesterday, Hwang explained his motivations, saying, “It has been 42 years to the day since 39 of the 50 kidnapping victims were returned to South Korea. I have filed a lawsuit against the abductor in the hope that it will encourage the government to expend further efforts to confirm how many of the remaining 11 are still alive, and have them returned.” Continue reading at Daily NK.

February 15, 2012: Families whose parents or relatives were abducted by a North Korean spy 42 years ago submitted an official complaint to the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office yesterday.

On Dec. 11, 1969, 50 South Korean passengers and crew members were abducted while taking a Korean Air YS-11 domestic flight departing from Gangneung to Gimpo. The spy, named Cho Chang-hee, hijacked the airplane and forced the captain to fly to Pyongyang.  …

“Four families of the abductees charged the spy, Cho Chang-hee, although we can’t confirm if he’s still alive or not,” Hwang Il-cheol, whose father was one of the 11 unreturned people, told the Korea JoongAng Daily yesterday. “We charge Cho as the culprit for this unending case.” Continue reading at the Korean JoongAng Daily.

February 14, 2012: Hwang In-cheol was only 26 months old when his father got on a plane for a business trip to Seoul on Dec. 11, 1969.

The son hasn’t seen his father since his plane was hijacked by a North Korean spy soon after takeoff from Gangneung, a South Korean eastern city near the border with North Korea. The YS-11 with the hijacker and 46 other South Korean passengers plus four crew members landed in North Korea.

After diplomatic efforts, the North allowed 39 passengers to return home through the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas on Feb. 14, 1970. However, the North held Hwang’s father, radio producer Hwang Won, six other passengers and four crew members. Continue reading at The Korea Times.