NK abducted 180,000 foreigners

By Kim Se-jeong

North Korea has abducted approximately 180,000 foreign nationals from 14 countries over a period of 60 years, a higher number than previously known, said Radio Free Asia quoting a U.S.-based human rights organization.

The report “Taken! North Korea’s Criminal Abduction of Citizens of Other Countries” by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea stated that North Korea’s history of abducting foreigners is not confined to Japan, and that the number kidnapped was larger.

“Those abducted came from widely diverse backgrounds, numerous nationalities, both genders, and all age groups, and were taken from places as far away as London, Copenhagen, Zagreb, Beirut, Hong Kong and China, in addition to Japan,” the RFA quoted the report.

In September 2002, North Korea officially admitted to the abduction of 13 Japanese citizens while then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was visiting Pyongyang. The report also stated the abduction program was dated to the outset of the regime.

South Koreans were among them as well.

The most well-known abduction was of a Korean movie couple, who were kidnapped in Hong Kong in 1978. They were forced to produce films and nurture the film industry in the North. The two fled North Korea in 1986.