"Unconverted long-term prisoners" is the

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n term for northern loyalists imprisoned in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

who never renounced ''

Juche ''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and ...

''. The North Korean government considers them to be "pro-reunification patriotic fighters", while South Korean scholars have described them as "pro-communist spies".

History

In March 1998,

South Korean president The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (often abbreviated to POTROK or POSK; ), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president leads the State Council, and is ...

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democra ...

declared an amnesty for long-term prisoners over the age of 70, as well as some suffering from disease. In February 1999, President Kim declared another amnesty for 17 unconverted long-term prisoners. In 2000, as part of the

June 15th North–South Joint Declaration __NOTOC__ The June 15th North–South Joint Declaration was adopted between leaders of North Korea and South Korea in June 2000 after various diplomatic meetings between the North and South. As a result of the talks, numerous separated families a ...

, sixty-three of the prisoners were permitted to settle in North Korea. There were hopes that North Korea would reciprocate by releasing Southern prisoners of war still detained in the North. A number of them left behind family members in the South; the South's

Ministry of Unification The Ministry of Unification is an executive department of the South Korean government aimed at promoting Korean reunification. It was first established in 1969 as the ''National Unification Board'', under the rule of Park Chung-hee. It gained its ...

refused permission to let the family members go north with them. They crossed the border by bus through the truce village of

Panmunjom Panmunjom, also known as Panmunjeom, now located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea or Kaesong, North Hwanghae Province, North Korea, was a village just north of the ''de facto'' border between North and South Korea, where the 1953 Korean A ...

at 10 AM on 2 September 2000, while a group of Southern protesters decried their return and demanded that the North return abducted Southerners; they were welcomed on the Northern side by a reception with a brass band playing revolutionary songs, and each was later awarded the

National Reunification Prize The National Reunification Prize () is an award of North Korea, bestowed by the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly upon people who have contributed to the reunification of Korea. The award was instituted in 1990. Recipients * An Ji-sae ...

In literature and film

A book about their experiences was published in North Korea in 2001. In 2003, South Korean director Kim Dong-won released ''

Repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

'', a documentary about the unconverted prisoners, based on more than 12 years and 800 hours of filming.

List of prisoners who crossed over to North Korea in 2000

Following is a list of the 63 prisoners who went to North Korea in 2000. Personal names are given in

McCune–Reischauer McCune–Reischauer romanization () is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems. A modified version of McCune–Reischauer was the official romanization system in South Korea until 2002, when it was replaced by the Re ...

romanisation of the Northern spelling (thus

surnames In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...

are spelled Ri instead of Yi, Ryu instead of Yu, etc.); place names are given in McCune–Reischauer without diacritics for places now in North Korea, and Revised Romanisation for places now in South Korea.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unconverted Long-Term Prisoners Prisoners and detainees of South Korea Recipients of the National Reunification Prize North Korea–South Korea relations

History

In literature and film

List of prisoners who crossed over to North Korea in 2000

See also

References