Divided Lives: The Lingering Pain of Korea's Forgotten POWs and Families

The deeply entrenched division between North and South Korea continues to impact many individuals, symbolized most poignantly by POWs, abductees, defectors, and separated families who remain victims of unresolved diplomatic tensions.

Lee Seon-wu, a South Korean POW who was forced to resettle in North Korea as a miner after his capture, is one such figure. At 94, he lives in South Korea, longing for family connections severed by politics. His plight illustrates the human cost of diplomatic inertia.

Other narratives amplify the personal toll of separation, like Son Myong Hwa's struggle for financial compensation for her deceased father, also a POW, and Choi Sung-Yong's insistence on uncovering the fate of his abducted father through controversial leafleting campaigns. These stories highlight the enduring scars of war that diplomacy alone has yet to heal.

(With inputs from agencies.)