A group of South Koreans who escaped from North Korea after being abducted have left for Washington to testify before the U.S. Congress.

The head of a South Korean association for abductees' families, Choi Sung-yong, said Thursday that he will visit the North Korean mission to the United Nations Tuesday to protest Pyongyang's abductions.

The former kidnap victims will testify before Congress Wednesday and Thursday, and will urge the swift repatriation of South Korean Kim Yong-nam, who was kidnapped by the North in 1978.

The abductees will return home on May 2nd after attending at an event in Washington on promoting freedom in the North.