Family calls on China to release abducted S. Korean fisherman who fled N. Korea

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; ADDS Seoul's diplomatic response, number of returned
abductees; MODIFIES throughout)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- China is refusing to allow a South Korean fisherman
who fled North Korea after three decades in captivity to return to the South, his
family said Tuesday, urging Seoul to press Beijing for his release.

Yun Jong-su, 67, has been held at a South Korean consular office in northeastern
China since his escape in May last year. Other abductees like him have been
permitted to return home much sooner in the past, Yun's brothers said.
Yun was one of 33 crewmen who were taken captive by North Korea after their
fishing boat went adrift in the East Sea in 1975 due to engine trouble. Early
last year, he was reached by his family in the South and successfully crossed a
river into China. His wife and daughter remain in North Korea after a failed
attempt to flee with Yun.
"He was taken by the North in his early 30s," said Yun's younger brother, Yun
Ju-ok, presenting his letters, photos and an audio tape of Yun's voice as he
visited the Unification Ministry to lodge a protest.
"Those years he lived looking toward the southern sky, with his family here. Now
he is detained in the consular office, again separated from his family in the
North. How could his pain be measured?"
Pyongyang denies holding any South Koreans against their will. Seoul says North
Korea abducted 494 civilians -- mostly fishermen operating in the East and Yellow
seas -- in the 1960s to the 70s. At least 560 former South Korean soldiers taken
prisoner during the 1950-53 Korean War are also believed to be living in the
communist North.
Seoul officials say Yun's case is unusual. China normally allows South Korean
abductees to leave China within three months, they said, refusing to comment on
why Yun has been an exception.
"The government is seeking cooperation from the Chinese government through
diplomatic channels," a Unification Ministry official said on customary condition
of anonymity.
Choi Sung-ryong, head of the Seoul-based Family Assembly Abducted to North Korea
who coordinated Yun's escape, claimed North Korea is barring China from allowing
Yun's return. North Korea's State Security Agency has disseminated posters
branding him a "traitor against the people," Choi argued.
The activist also claimed that Yun's wife, a former resident in Japan, was a
close friend of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's deceased wife, Ko Yong-hi,
while they lived in Osaka.
Yun's wife and 27-year-old daughter are now under house arrest, Choi said.
So far, seven abducted civilians -- three of whom were crewmen on Yun's fishing
ship, the Cheongwang-ho -- have escaped from North Korea to return to the South.
Among war prisoners, 76 have returned.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)