Declaration will do nothing to solve abductee problem
The Korean War Abductees’ Family Union urged the Moon Jae-in administration to end its campaign to declare an end to the Korean War in a press conference in front of the presidential Blue House on December 6. The union argued that signing the declaration to end the war would exonerate North Korea from any responsibility for abducting innocent South Korean citizens during the 1950-1953 Korean War.
“The 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the 2017 South Korean truth commission on the Korean War abductees conducted official investigations and confirmed that North Korea’s abduction amounted to the war crime,” the family union said. “However, North Korea still denies its responsibility despite the fact that both domestic and international investigations reached such findings.”
The group explained that they asked the Moon administration to mention the abductee issue during its summits with North Korea, but that the government ignored their request. “The government is not holding North Korea accountable for committing war crimes and kidnapping innocent civilians,” the union said. “We express our deepest regret for this administration that appears to wait and receive orders from Kim Jong-un, the grandson of the war criminal Kim Il-sung.”
The union added that “declaring the end to the war without holding North Korea accountable for the abduction and asking for their apology would be the same as exonerating them from committing a war crime, so we strongly oppose the declaration.”
The union said it is worried that the Moon administration is trying to declare an end to the war without resolving North Korea’s war crimes and its nuclear weapons program. “Is President Moon Jae-in aware of the 100,000 South Korean civilians abducted during the Korean War?” the union asked. “What is the purpose of declaring an end to the war while ignoring the issue of South Korean nationals who are suffering from North Korea’s abduction? Do you really believe establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula is possible without solving the abduction issue with North Korea, which is trying to become a nuclear state?”
It asked the government to provide answers to the following critical questions as well.
First, whether the government is willing to solve the issue of the approximately 100,000 abductees from the Korean War. It asked the administration to explain the precondition for declaring the end to the war, the true purpose of the declaration, the meaning of the declaration without solving the nuclear weapons problem, and the issue of the Korean War abductees.
Second, it requested that the government to provide its views on the fate of the United Nations Command and Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States once the war is ended. Many experts argue that the declaration will remove the legitimacy of the UN Command in South Korea and will eventually lead to the withdrawal of the U.S. forces.
“If the end to the war is declared, it will eventually lead to the dissolution of the UN Command, withdrawal of the U.S. forces, and end the mutual defense treaty, and we would like the government to explain what is left for us after the declaration to defend ourselves from another North Korean invasion,” the group argued.
Meanwhile, the Kookmin Ilbo newspaper reported on December 5 that the Blue House is considering sending an official New Year’s letter by President Moon Jae-in to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The newspaper cited an official from the ruling party saying that the “Blue House is thinking about sending a letter from President Moon to Kim Jong-un to share the status of the ongoing discussion on declaring the end to the war with the United States and China.” The newspaper cited a Blue House official saying that the “government is doing its best to declare the end to the war and considering every measure that we can take.”
The Ministry of Unification released a statement the next day. Lee Jong-ju, the spokesperson of the ministry, said that she is not willing to provide a statement on an article she described as based on speculation. She added that the declaration of the end of the war will introduce the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and provide momentum to move ahead with the Korean Peninsula peace process.
South Korean National Security Advisor Suh Hoon met with Yang Jiechi, a Chinese Communist Party Politburo member, in China on December 2. South Korea said on Friday that the two officials agreed that diplomatic effort and dialogue with North Korea are important for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishing permanent peace. South Korea also said Yang expressed support for President Moon’s proposal to declare a formal end to the Korean War. Yang reportedly said the declaration will contribute to promoting peace and stability on the peninsula.
While Moon appears to have the Chinese Communist Party’s support for his plan to end the war, the family members of the victims of North Korean aggression clearly see things differently.
