Gov't confirms 14 more S. Korean fishermen kidnapped by N. Korea

By Shim Sun-ah

SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea added 14 former fishermen to its official list of nationals presumed to have been kidnapped by North Korea decades ago, the Unification Ministry said Wednesday.

The move brought to 494 the total number of South Korean citizens believed to
have been abducted and held against their will since the 1950-53 Korean War,
Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun told reporters.
The 14 fishermen were aboard the South Korean ship "Gilyong" when it was
purportedly abducted by the North on waters some 55 kilometers west of Taean on
the South's west coast in January 1966, according to the ministry.
South Korea initially presumed the ship, with a crew of 15, had been seized by
China, North Korea's closest communist ally. It later recognized a letter from
Seo Tae-bong, one of the 15 crewmembers, that was sent to his family in South
Korea from North Korea.
It was only when four other families of the missing crewmen applied for
government aid given to kidnapping victims that the government began an extensive
probe into the case.
Families of the rest of the kidnapped fishermen will receive hundreds of
thousands of dollars in consolation money from the government as a result,
officials said.
Seoul estimates there are 540 South Korean prisoners of war still alive in the
North, though Pyongyang denies holding any South Korean nationals against their
will.