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 | | Wednesday, 22 August, 2001, 13:18 GMT 14:18 UK POW flees North Korea  The war ended without a formal peace treaty A former South Korean soldier who was captured during the Korean War more than 50 years ago has finally returned home after fleeing the North. The man, Shin Sung-soo, was among 13 people who the authorities in Seoul say have recently fled from North Korea. The others were North Koreans - five of whom are to be reunited with family members who had already fled to the South. The South Korean national intelligence service (NIS) said Mr Shin, who is now 72, was taken prisoner at the beginning of the war and had worked at a coal mine since his capture. Peace moves Details of how Mr Shin fled or when he arrived in South Korea were not released but the intelligence agency plans to question him for up to a month. It is not known whether he has any family in South Korea.
The war ended in 1953, but South Korea believes North Korea is still holding hundreds of prisoners-of-war. North Korea denies it. The two countries are still technically at war, as no peace treaty has been signed. Famine However in recent years there have been moves to make peace. Last year their leaders met for a historic summit in the North Korean capital Pyongyang and pledged to end decades of hostility on the peninsula. To mark that summit, South Korea repatriated 63 former North Korean spies. But the border remains closed. A growing number of North Koreans have been fleeing South to escape famine. Most arrive from China, where tens of thousands of North Koreans are believed to be living in hiding. In the first seven months of this year, 344 North Koreans have fled to the South compared to 312 for the whole of last year. In 1999 the figure was 148. | |
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