2008 marks the 55th year of the signing of the armistice agreement, which ended the Korean War. In a bid to bring up the issue of South Korean prisoners of war held in the North, the Seoul government is now planning to call for the U.N. General Assembly or the U.N. Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution on the repatriation of the South Korean POWs. The U.N. resolution, if passed, will likely put great pressure on North Korea. Not a mere declaration, the resolution could be used as an objective standard for imposing international sanctions against a particular country violating human rights and for determining whether or not the country is entitled to international aid. Here’s Kim Su-am from the Korea Institute for National Unification to explain the significance of this resolution.

The government has made diverse efforts to address the issue of South Korean prisoners of war who were imprisoned while fighting for their homeland. In a pledge to carry out its basic responsibilities to its people, the government even established a law concerning their treatment. Nevertheless, Seoul has failed to find a breakthrough for this issue, with North Korea refusing to discuss it. Both North and South Korea are members of the United Nations. South Korea is now determined to ask the U.N. General Assembly or the U.N. Human Rights Council to pass a resolution on the returning of South Korean POWs held in the North, in an attempt to awaken the international community to this humanitarian issue and to induce North Korea to change its attitude.

The Korean War and the division of the two Koreas resulted in countless separated families, including those who left North Korea and entered the South as refugees during the war. The Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950, and ended in a truce on July 27, 1953. Under the armistice agreement, North and South Korea officially exchanged prisoners of war. However, the North didn’t return all of the South Korean POWs at that time, and many South Korean soldiers are believed to be alive in the North. The POW issue remains a crucial inter-Korean issue today. Unlike North Korean expatriates here, who voluntarily escaped their home during the war, the prisoners of war are still held captive in the North against their will. Why has this important humanitarian concern remained unsettled for over fifty years? Mr. Kim explains.

With North Korea flatly denying the existence of South Korean prisoners of war, it is very hard for Seoul to find a pragmatic solution to this issue. All the South Korean POWs should have been repatriated to the South under the armistice agreement. If Pyongyang admits not having returned them all, it will highly likely face severe international criticism. When former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Pyongyang in 2002, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il made a bold decision to admit that the North kidnapped Japanese nationals decades ago. As a result, North Korea had to accept harsh criticism both from Japan and the international community. So, it won’t be easy for North Korea to admit the existence of South Korean POWs now. And it will also be hard for Seoul to deal with this issue through official inter-Korean talks, as long as Pyongyang’s attitude remains unchanged.

The POW issue became a national concern when Cho Chang-ho, a former South Korean army second lieutenant, escaped North Korea and returned home in 1994. He was taken prisoner in the middle of the Korean War. Due to Pyongyang’s lack of cooperation, the Seoul government hasn’t been able to confirm exactly how many POWs are being held in the North. Some 70 South Korean POWs have fled North Korea and returned to the South since 1990. Based on their accounts, about 560 POWs are assumed to be alive in the North. The “Inter-Korean Relations Development Act” states that South Korea will make efforts to resolve humanitarian problems and human rights concerns triggered by national division. It also stresses that the government should fulfill its responsibilities to take care of the prisoners of war who sacrificed themselves for their nation. The government has made strenuous effort toward their return to this point, using inter-Korean talks to repeatedly ask the North to repatriate the POWs.

The government has tried to resolve this thorny issue in two ways. First, Seoul has continuously brought up the issue at official inter-Korean meetings. In a lukewarm response to South Korea’s repeated requests, North Korea agreed to make an effort to solve the problem of “people who went missing during and after the Korean War” during the fourth round of inter-Korean Red Cross talks in 2002. However, North Korea still remains passive toward the issue, as seen in the ambiguous expression referring to South Korean prisoners of war. In another way of approaching the issue, South Korea has included some of the family members of the POWs in the inter-Korean separate family reunion program. However, this isn’t a fundamental solution, as it only allows the unfortunate families to confirm the life status of their long-lost kin in the North within the framework of the reunion program.

The POW issue has made little progress despite Seoul’s continuous effort. The two Koreas haven’t even fully discussed the issue, much less resolved it. Under these circumstances, South Korea’s plan to seek a U.N. resolution carries great significance, as the move could draw international attention and eventually lead to a breakthrough in the issue.

The U.N. resolution sought by the Seoul government could put political and moral pressure on North Korea. However, the POW issue dates back to the early 1950s. If the victims were in their 20s at the time, they will now be turning 80 or older. The possibility that they are still alive is getting lower and lower. Plus, North Korea still denies holding any South Korean POWs. Seoul needs to be more active to resolve this urgent matter.

President-elect Lee Myung-bak’s transition committee places priority on measures to improve humanitarian issues, such as the expansion of the reunion program for separated families and the repatriation of South Korean POWs and abductees held in the North. It is a prerequisite for North and South Korea to clear up their unfortunate past before moving toward reconciliation and cooperation. Here’s hoping that Seoul’s continuous effort will bear fruit so that the next government can bring back all the remaining prisoners of war in the North. 　 [Interview] S. Korean Dentist Provides Dental Services to N. Koreans
Today, we’ll meet with dentist Park Nam-yong, who has tried his best to treat North Korean patients and improve the poor medical environment in the communist country. To this end, Park helped organize the ‘Special Inter-Korean Committee on Dental Health’ in 2001. Let’s listen to Park tell us about the committee.

When disastrous floods hit North Korea in 1997, the Korea Dentists Association for Healthy Society held a fundraising campaign to help out the North Korean flood victims. To carry out North Korean aid in a more systematic and consistent way, the association launched the Special Inter-Korean Committee on Dental Health.

Mr. Park, the chairman of the committee, visited North Korea in March of 2005 to deliver five dental unit chairs and panorama X-ray units. As part of efforts to reduce the wide gap between North and South Korea in medical techniques, he proposed academic exchanges between the two sides. Actually, an inter-Korean dentistry forum was held in Pyongyang in October of 2005, the first such occasion. The bilateral academic exchange paved the way for South Korean doctors to send medical supplies and equipment to the North. Technology transfer was made possible as well.

We decided to carry out North Korean aid in three stages—providing medical supplies, assisting the oral hygiene area and engaging in personnel exchanges. In that process, we were able to build mutual confidence and hold an academic forum in the last stage, even though it is only a small gathering. We exchanged opinions and questions with North Korean dentists. It is the biggest outcome of my seven years of efforts toward North Korean aid. The dental health committee and other five medical groups in South Korea helped the North’s Chosun Red Cross General Hospital build operating rooms equipped with adequate tools. After two years of work, the operating rooms have recently opened. I felt happy and proud when looking around the new facility.

It is said that North Korea’s medical situation is similar to that of South Korea in the 1970s. Mr. Park says they faced many difficulties in upgrading the level of the poor situation, though only in a slight way. Everything was difficult at first due to the North Koreans’ deep mistrust in South Korean people. Sending medical equipment and installing necessary supplies in the right places were very challenging taks.

The hardest part was to build trust. We had little information about North Korea, which made our work even more difficult. We were supposed to figure out the situation of the North correctly and gauge the necessary amount of aid. With little information about the reclusive country, however, we just had to guess what they would need. After sending the materials, we were worried if North Koreans could use them appropriately. Looking back, we often sent the North more than enough. We gradually came to learn about the situation by trial and error. Also, North Korea has poor infrastructure, such as water and electricity supplies, which was another difficult part.

Despite the difficulties, the South Korean dentists helped establish operating rooms at the Chosun Red Cross General Hospital last November. They also plan to treat North Korean workers in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, using a moving vehicle equipped with necessary facilities for dental treatment.

Reunification of Korea should be discussed at the governmental level, but private organizations, including professional groups like us, must show more interest in the future of a unified Korea. I hope North Korean aid and inter-Korean exchanges, even though they may be small, will actually benefit North Korean citizens. I also hope we will soon be allowed to treat North Korean patients in cooperation with doctors in the North.

Based on long-term plans, Mr. Park is doing his best to improve the North’s medical environment. Hopefully, his devotion will eventually help promote the health of North Korean citizens as well.