Seoul recognizes wartime abductions of additional 350 civilians

More than 350 South Korean civilians have been additionally classified as being abducted by North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, bringing the total of wartime abductions to 743, the government here said Wednesday.

The Prime Minister's Office released the latest figure, which excludes soldiers taken as prisoners of war, during a meeting of a government committee handling the issue of wartime abduction of South Korean civilians by the North.

On Wednesday, the committee ruled an additional 351 people, including politicians, journalists, judges and businessmen, were abducted by the North. Previously, the Seoul government has confirmed the abductions of 392 civilians.

The total figure represents just a fraction of about 100,000 South Korean civilians who are estimated to have been kidnapped by the North during the war, which ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

Kim Seok-kyu, a committee official handing the issue, said the fate of 743 people is unknown.

The committee vowed to shed light on other wartime civilian abductees by 2013.

Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said the government will "make consistent efforts to try to resolve" abductions and other inter-Korean humanitarian issues caused by the division of the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea has repeatedly called for the repatriation of its nationals but Pyongyang denies any kidnappings, claiming any South Koreans in the North are there voluntarily. (Yonhap)