Abductees¡¯ families move to protest Kim Jong-Il visit

Some 60 members of an abductees¡¯ families association plan to hold a general meeting in Pusan Thursday afternoon to discuss measures aimed at protesting North Korean Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-Il`s planned visit to Seoul.

Choi Sung-Yong, chairman of the association, said participants in the meeting would discuss lodging protests and taking other steps aimed at the governments of both South and North Korea.

He said the group does not oppose Kim`s reciprocal visit to Seoul but that Kim would face opposition from the abductees` families unless Pyongyang agrees to recognize their existence.

Lee Ok-Chul, chief of the association`s Pusan chapter, said as long as the North did not recognize the existence of the abductees there, it was wrong for Pyongyang to praise the abductees from the South for their heroism. He said President Kim Dae-Jung had failed to make good on his promise to resolve the question of abductees to the North. Kim made the pledge in September last year. Under the circumstances, the North Korean leader`s Seoul visit is intolerable, Lee said.

Meanwhile, the association plans to demand the government to make efforts to repatriate South Koreans kidnapped to the North. If the government does not accept its request, the group plans to hold rallies and stage demonstrations against Kim Jong-Il`s Seoul visit in alliance with human rights and religious organizations.