News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Another Former Soldier Flees to South Korea

Date: November 24, 2001

"Former Soldier Flees to South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (news - web sites) (AP) - A former South Korean soldier who was captured during the 1950-53 Korean War has returned home after fleeing the North, the government said Saturday.

The 67-year-old man recently arrived in South Korea with 18 North Koreans who had fled hunger and other hardships, the government's National Intelligence Service said in a news release. It did not identify him.

The man was taken prisoner during a battle in central Korea. He spent most of his life in the North toiling in coal mines, the intelligence agency said. It did not reveal other details, such as the former soldier's escape route.

Over the years, 23 South Korean prisoners of war have returned home after fleeing the North. South Korea believes North Korea (news - web sites) still holds 300 Southern soldiers, but Pyongyang denies it.

The former soldier and the 18 North Korean defectors lived in a third country before coming to Seoul, the agency said.

Most North Korean defectors arrive through China, but South Korean authorities usually don't identify China out of respect for that country's relations with North Korea.

The latest defectors brought to 497 the number of North Koreans who have fled to the South this year. Last year, 312 North Koreans defected to South Korea, up from 148 in 1999.

The Korean peninsula was divided in 1945. The Korean War ended without a peace treaty, and the border remains sealed. "