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An event is taking place in front of the White House in Washington D.C. where participants are calling for the release of 85,000 individuals from 11 countries who have been kidnapped by North Korea during and after the Korean War, by calling out their names one by one. The event, which started Sunday and will continue until Wednesday, is co-organized by the Citizen's Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees based in the United States and Japan¡¯s Rescuing Abductees Center for Hope, or ReACH. Around 50 Korean-American and Japanese volunteers have been staying up nights calling out the names of the abductees in alphabetical order. In Imjingak on Sunday, groups representing the family members of people kidnapped by North Korea also called out the names of around 1,000 victims.
Calling out the names of the kidnapped is an ardent confirmation of the fact that neither they nor their suffering will be forgotten no matter how much time passes. It is the South Korean government that should take the lead in calling out their names and demand their return alive. But the South Korean government¡¯s mouth is sealed tight. Right now, the only people calling out the names of the kidnapped are their family members and foreign human rights groups. And they are doing it in front of the presidential office of a foreign government.
The fundamental reason why a nation exists is to protect its people. The people¡¯s loyalty, payment of taxes and duty to defend their nation are all formed under the premise that their nation will protect them well. When this sacred pact between a nation and its people crumbles, then the concept of the nation falls apart in the minds of its people. That¡¯s why respectable countries hold solemn ceremonies to honor their war dead and never forget the sacrifices made by their citizens. The U.S. government has a special command that is tasked with finding the remains of American war dead, and they travel to the farthest reaches of Vietnam, China and even venture into North Korea to do that.
The South Korean government was not even able to put the issue of kidnapped citizens on the agenda of talks with North Korean officials. The current government grudgingly consented to demands by the families of kidnap victims and raised the issue during talks with the North. But South Korea ended up merely signing a joint statement that referred to the issue in vague terms only, saying, ¡°We will try to solve the problems involving people whose whereabouts are unknown during the war and afterwards.¡±
The roll call in front of the White House is really a question to the South Korean government whether it has done things properly.
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