A South Korean Abductee’s Family Sends Letter to North’s Leader

I sincerely hope that my father who has been branded as a spy under the competition between the two Koreas’ systems for 18 years will at least be treated as an ordinary person on his birthday.

Choi Woo-young (35), the president of the Families of the Abducted and Detained in North Korea (FAD) and also the daughter of Choi Jong-seok (60), a seaman from Dongjinho kidnapped by a North Korea’s patrol ship in 1987, yesterday made public her letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il ahead of her father’s 60th birthday (October 26) through a daily newspaper.

After hearing in 1999 that her father was detained at a political figure camp, Choi has conducted a campaign for the repatriation of abductees in the North since June 2000 in her capacity as the president of FAD.

In her letter, she earnestly appealed to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, saying, “I believe that you will understand my heart rendering feeling, given that you have carried out huge scale of projects to commemorate the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung’s achievements,” adding, “Like the previous cases in which you returned Japanese abducted by the North to their country by understanding their pain, I sincerely want South Korean abductees in the North to return to their home.”

Choi said, “I will sincerely appreciate if the North prepares a meal to mark my father’s 60th birthday anniversary,” adding, “Sincere unification will be commenced when South Korean abductees, including my father, return home.”

weappon@donga.com