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NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 483 (January 17, 2008)
*** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS
Ministry suggests aid in exchange for Pyongyang's return of S. Korean POWs
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The Unification Ministry in Seoul has suggested that the incoming government consider providing aid to North Korea in return for the repatriation of South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) and kidnapped South Koreans, a ministry official said Jan. 15.
The ministry made the suggestion to the transition team of President-elect Lee Myung-bak during a Jan. 7 briefing, the official said.
The return of kidnapped South Koreans and POWs was one of the top policy priorities set by the president-elect who takes office on Feb. 25.
The aid could be given through new inter-Korean economic cooperation projects or in other forms, he said, citing the case of West Germany, which provided money and goods to East Germany in return for political prisoners before German reunification in 1990.
It is unclear at the moment whether the next government will adopt the suggestion.
"It is a kind of idea that can resolve the problem by giving to North Korea what it needs," the official said. "The key is whether or not the North will react positively to the proposal."
Government data show that 485 South Koreans have been abducted to North Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, and that 548 South Korean soldiers were taken prisoner by the North during the conflict. Pyongyang denies holding any South Koreans against their will, claiming the ones there defected voluntarily.
Civic organizations representing the families of abductees claim that as many as 80,000 people were kidnapped during the war.
(END)
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