GNP calls for repatriation of POWs in N.K

The Grand National Party (GNP) Assemblymen`s General Meeting at the National Assembly took place Friday under an atmosphere of excitement. In particular, the list of candidates for repatriation to North Korea publicly announced by Choson Central Television in the morning contained mostly people who were confirmed to be North Korean spies dispatched to South Korea, and some assemblymen remarked angrily that spies are becoming heroes.

GNP Party President Lee Hoi-Chang noted that most of the 63 unrepentant Communist prisoners in South Korea slated for repatriation to the North served prison terms for violating the National Security Law. He demanded that the government explain why it is repatriating these people to the North in the name of human rights and not calling for the repatriation of South Korean prisoners of war and abductees in North Korea. President Lee added that if the government does not address this issue, he has no choice but to directly appeal to citizens.

An argument that this problem should be connected to the budget for North Korean assistance was also raised. Assemblyman Park Kwan-Yong proposed that, just as the American Congress froze the budget for crude oil support to North Korea, we must study the method of evaluating the project costs for aiding North Korea in next year`s budget, and either deny the budget evaluation itself or reduce the budget. Assemblyman Kim Yong-Kap said that even Kim Jong-Il included the problem of unrepentant Communists living in the South in the joint declaration of the South-North Korea Summit, and asked what the President has done so far. He even argued that resolution rallies should be convened.

Regarding this, Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) Deputy Spokesperson Chang Jun-Hyung refuted that the repatriation of Communists to the North is part of the implementation of the joint agreement between the leaders of South and North Korea. He noted that the South-North Korea problem requires time, and if one tries to acquire everything overnight, all could be lost. A related source at the Ministry of Reunification said that the government will do its utmost to solve the problem of South Korean prisoners of war and abductees with the North Korean side during the 2nd South-North Korea Ministerial level meeting slated for August 29.