Taking full care of those who sacrificed for the nation is one of nation’s infinite
responsibility as well as an element that draws love and loyalty from the people. This
means that Korean War POW (Prisoners of war) and excavation of fallen soldiers are a
significant issue to be taken care of.
Those who became POW in North Korea during the Korean War in 1950s are still alive
and are estimated to be around 500. However, not many POW succeeded in returning back
to South Korea. Body restorations for those who deceased at that period are in progress for
the case of South Korea, but the North has limit due to hard accessibility. North Korea’s
denial of the existence of POW made it more difficult for authorities to solve this issue.
South Korea’s government tried to confirm the life and death of the soldiers during
reunions of North-South dispersed families by categorizing them as, “special dispersed
family,” but there was only slight achievement. The same applies to attempts of
repatriation through a third power state. Adding on, POW who came back to South Korea
showed hardship adjusting to the new culture since they spent a long period remote from
South Korea’s society.
Excavation and restoration of remains of those killed during the Korean War have a limit
that it is only in action within South Korea. The case of U.S-North Korea’s U.S Army
troop excavation project should be taken into account as well as the past accumulated
experience of the South to be implemented in North Korea as well.
With this in mind, the status quo, limits of repatriation attempts, and settlement issues of
POW who are South government’s core subject to be taken care of are examined and
possible solutions will be discussed in this dissertation. Korean War POW within North
Korea would be the main target for this paper when discussing body excavation and
restoration issues as well as North-South cooperation to successfully overcome the
boundaries.