Family of abductees to North meets in 13 years in Pyongyang

Kang Hui-Geun, who was abducted to North Korea in January 1987 met his 73-year-old mother, Kim Sam-Rye, for the first time in 13 years in Pyongyang over the weekend as she was visiting North Korea as a member of the family reunion group. Kang, 49, was among 12 sailors aboard a fishing vessel, No. 27 Dongjin-ho, which was seized by a North Korean patrol boat near Baeknyong-do off the west coast.

The dramatic encounter was the first for one of the estimated 487 Southern abductees who are still held in the North, and it is hoped to augur well for the resolution of their prolonged captivity. Kim received her son during a group get-together at Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang on the first day of her visit, Nov. 30, and was later introduced to her new daughter-in-law, Kim Yong-Hwa, and grandson Kang Hyun-Min, 13, at a subsequent private interview and luncheon.

When asked by North Korean reporters how he had come to live in the North, Kang said he was not kidnapped but rather captured by a North Korean patrol for crossing over the 38th parallel that divides the peninsula into north and south. After learning that education and medical services were free in North Korea, Kang made up his mind to settle in the North, he said.

Kang works as a mechanic at a textile plant in Dongnim County, North Pyongan Province, that produces industrial cloth and said he was decorated twice in 1990 and 1994. He said he joined the Workers Party two months ago.

Meanwhile, the two groups of separated families, 100 members each from the South and the North, wound up their second round of three-day reunions and returned home to their respective capitals on Sunday aboard Air Koryo chartered planes.

Ha Tae-Won scooop@donga.com