Families demand whereabouts of abductees in North

The Survivor 625 group delivered a petition with more than 7,000 signatures to President Kim Dae-Jung on Thursday at Cheong Wa Dae, seeking a list of the 85,000 or so people who fell into North Korean hands after the government escaped south after demolishing the Hangang bridge at the outset of the Korean War.

They also demanded the establishment of an exclusive organization to handle the matter, expeditious confirmation of survivors and repatriation of the remains of those who have died.

According to the Survivor 625 group, other than confirming 337 survivors from a list of 7,034 North Korea abductees in 1956 for the (South) Korea National Red Cross, the Pyongyang government has done nothing. The group requested the government to take an interest not only in the people abducted after the Korean War but also during the war and facilitate their return. The group also presented their demands to the Ministry of Unification.