An Hak-seop, an unconverted long-term prisoner, recently submitted an official request to the government to be repatriated to North Korea, as reported on the 4th. The government stated that they are not currently reviewing his repatriation.
According to the Ministry of Unification, An submitted a petition to return to the North last month. Ministry officials visited him at the end of the month to inquire about his health and the reasons behind his request. An, who is suffering from worsening health conditions such as pulmonary edema, is currently hospitalized.
An was arrested in 1953 and convicted under the National Security Act for espionage, spending 42 years in prison before being released in 1995. Although 63 unconverted long-term prisoners were repatriated to North Korea in September 2000 after the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration during President Kim Dae-jung’s administration, An chose to stay, stating he would “continue to fight until the U.S. military leaves.”
He participated in a rally in front of the Seoul Government Complex on the 2nd, urging the government to send him to North Korea, saying, “I fought to see the Americans withdraw, but my health is very poor.” On a rally on the 26th of last month, he claimed that “after being born under Japanese colonial rule, what I thought was liberation was not,” arguing that the U.S. began to colonize Korea. He referred to North Korea as a “self-reliant democratic independent state” and expressed his desperate wish to spend his remaining life in the North, free from colonial rule.
Koo Byung-sam, spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification, stated in a regular briefing that the government has not yet reviewed An’s repatriation request. A Ministry official mentioned that they contacted An to assess his situation after he filed the petition. It is anticipated that Unification Minister Chung Dong-young will decide whether to review An’s request for repatriation after receiving a detailed report on the matter.