A deplorable deed. Outrage that grips me no matter how much I wail. The agony of having my guts ripped out and my bones shattered.
That was how I felt when I saw the photographs released by the Ministry of Unification on July 12 that show two North Korean fishermen being sent back to the North.
Their desperate struggle as they stood before the Military Demarcation Line was terrible to behold. What were they thinking as they were led to that border, bound and blindfolded? For anyone else, the Military Demarcation Line is an invisible line separating South from North Korea, but for those two men, it was the boundary between life and death.
Did they have a premonition that they would die if they crossed that line? They must have had a good idea of what was sure to happen if they returned to the North, or why would they have put up such a violent struggle?
Until those photos were released, we did not know exactly what had happened there on that day. We had only been told that the men had “dropped to the ground” upon seeing North Korean soldiers at the Military Demarcation Line.
But the actual scene revealed in those photographs is horrific. The two men did not drop to the ground — they fought with every fiber in their being.
Former Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul and other members of the government emphasize that the two were horrible criminals with no intention of defecting.
But those photographs clearly show what returning to North Korea meant for the two men. There were no legal grounds for forcing them to return. They were never given a chance to have a fair trial in a court that operates under the presumption of innocence, in a country with the rule of law.
The arbitrary action taken by the Ministry of Unification and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) represent a serious violation of not only the South Korean Constitution but also the UN Convention Against Torture. Even now, North Korean defectors are stressed out and afraid that they too could be forced to return to North Korea at any time to serve the political interests of the government.
Prosecuting everyone involved for attempted murder or abetting murder will not bring the two men back to life. Even so, Kim Yeon-chul, former NIS director Suh Hoon, former national security advisor Chung Eui-yong, and former president Moon Jae-in himself should be put on trial if the Republic of Korea is still a land of freedom and conscience.
There are still many North Korean defectors in various parts of China today who hope to come to South Korea. The Chinese keep repatriating them instead of giving them asylum, despite knowing full well that agony worse than death awaits them upon their return.
Now South Korea no longer has the credibility to ask China to stop sending those defectors back to North Korea. What is the point of appealing to China when the defectors’ own country is sending them back?
How did my homeland, the Republic of Korea, come to such a pass? I have never been so ashamed to be a citizen here. Even after the abominable act of treating people’s lives as a bargaining chip to flatter the dictator Kim Jong Un, nobody has been held responsible.
The very people who were always prating about humane treatment turned out to be guilty of inhuman behavior themselves. It is shameful that they are even considered part of the human race.
I can only hope that the two men who were repatriated are still alive. I urge the authorities to thoroughly investigate this incident so that we can set our country back on the right path once more.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
