Tag: 2013

KAL YS-11 Abductee Living Near Pyongyang

December 30, 2013: Hwang In Cheol has spent the last 14 years fighting for the repatriation of his father, who was abducted to North Korea as a result of a plane hijacking in 1969. Hwang, the 47-year-old representative of Association for Family Members of the KAL Kidnapping Victims, has been pushing the issue with barely any external help. However, in spite of domestic barriers and a highly uncooperative North Korean regime, he has not lost hope.

Thinking back to the beginning of his journey, Hwang recalls, “The first decisive opportunity to verify whether my father was alive or dead came at the 3rd round of separated family reunions in 2001. At those reunions, the mother of stewardess Seong Kyeong Hee met with her daughter. Seong had been abducted to North Korea with my father.” Continue reading at The Daily NK.

NK Keeping Over 500 South Koreans Prisoner Including Plane Crew Hijacked 45 years Ago

October 15, 2013: North Korea is still holding 516 South Koreans abducted since the end of the Korean War in 1953, including 11 from a Korean Air Lines passenger aircraft that was hijacked almost 45 years ago.

The names of the missing were provided by South Korea’s Unification Ministry to Choung Byoung-gug, a politician from the ruling Saenuri Party. Mr Choung said the return of the abductees is the government’s top priority and a “critical humanitarian concern.”

The plane was hijacked by a North Korean agent, Cho Chang-hui, who walked into the cockpit and forced the pilots to change direction until they entered North Korean airspace. They were met by North Korean fighter jets, with Pyongyang initially insisting that the pilots had defected to protest against their government.  Continue reading at The Telegraph.