"From Now On, This Boat Is Going North of the River"…Why Did the Government Torment the Abducted Fishermen? [Pain of Sokcho·Goseong②]

Increase in Fishing Boat Seizures and Abductions Since 1967
North Korea Shoots Fleeing Boats, Killing Fishermen
Government Only Reduces Fishing Interception Vessels... Shifts Responsibility for Illegal Fishing
Supreme Court Rules Applying Anti-Communist Law for Espionage Charges

Editor's NoteThe background of the movie 'Hijacking' is Sokcho, Gangwon Province in 1971. Yongdae (played by Yeo Jin-gu), who boarded a passenger plane, detonates a homemade bomb inside the cabin shortly after takeoff. He quickly takes control of the cockpit and terrorizes the passengers. "From now on, this plane is heading north of the border." There are two main backgrounds for the abduction to the North: the benefits of handing over the passenger plane to North Korea and liberation from an oppressed life. The painful wounds of division have continuously strangled life. Families were monitored and controlled simply because they had defected to or been abducted by the North. The pain was too great to just cover up and move on as a thing of the past. It is a painful wound that must be revisited and resolved.

Incidents of fishing boat seizures and abductions sharply increased in 1967. Forty-five vessels were kidnapped, and 332 people were taken away. This was about three times more than the previous year's twelve vessels and 101 people. The conflict between South and North Korea reached its peak, leading to frequent physical clashes. Many never returned. In 1967 and 1968, 160 fishermen who were abducted never came back, accounting for more than half of all missing persons.

North Korea was obsessed with seizing fishing boats and even shelled fleets. They shot at fleeing vessels, killing fishermen. This was due to a sense of crisis caused by South Korea's deployment of troops to Vietnam starting in 1966. The armistice agreement, which stipulated no use of force between the two sides, was nullified. Both South and North deployed irregular forces into enemy territory. Retaliation and punishment continued.

The climax was on November 3, 1967, when North Korea fired on about 200 fishing boats catching pollock near the East Sea fishing blockade line. They surrounded the boats in a "rabbit drive" style, abducting ten vessels and sixty fishermen. The navy, which was supposed to protect the fishermen, could not respond. The area around Geojin Port became a sea of tears as families waited for their missing breadwinners. Even the crew members who narrowly escaped were shot and wounded. There was no need for a separate mourning house. The next day, the ten abducted boats were fishing in northern waters. Powerless fishermen were made victims of the South-North conflict.

The South Korean government's measures were no different. Unable to find a way to resolve conflicts with North Korea, they only reduced the fishing blockade line, which was crucial for fishermen's livelihoods. They blamed the abduction incidents on fishermen crossing the line illegally and tightened enforcement and punishment. Fishermen who returned after abduction were even arrested under the National Security Act and Anti-Communist Law. In December 1968, prosecutors instructed all district prosecutors to seek the death penalty for fishermen who crossed the fishing blockade line and were abducted more than twice. It was an extreme form of terror governance aimed at solving the problem by instilling fear in fishermen.

After the fishing blockade line was reduced, mass abduction incidents disappeared. However, abductions continued, such as the case of the Masanho vessel, which was seized by North Korean armed patrol boats while squid fishing in the Daehwato fishing grounds 170 miles north of Ulleungdo in 1982. Mainly medium and large squid fishing vessels that ventured far were abducted. Small vessels saw a significant decrease in abductions due to the southward shift of the fishing blockade line and enforcement controls. However, punishments and arrests for illegal fishing beyond the line and for returning abductees intensified. Mass arrests occurred, and fishermen's minimal human rights were trampled through excessive law enforcement, illegal investigations, torture, and routine surveillance.

A group photo of the crew members of the Odaeyang ship, who were abducted to North Korea in 1972, taken at Mount Myohyang in North Korea in 1974. (Photo provided by the Abductees' Families Association)

At that time, prosecutors judged that North Korea was systematically abducting and detaining South Korean fishermen for long periods, collecting various information and indoctrinating them before sending them back. In 1971, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced that fishing vessels and crews who crossed the line would be banned from sailing for over a year to prevent abductions. Fishermen abducted more than twice would face aggravated punishment and vessel confiscation. Additionally, abducted fishermen who stayed in the North for a long time would be banned from sailing, and those who received orders from the North but did not surrender would face the maximum penalty.

In fact, in December 1970, four fishermen from Mukho who were abducted on the East Coast and returned were arrested and sentenced to prison on charges of acting as spies under North Korean orders. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that abducted fishermen could be charged not only with escape but also with praising and encouraging anti-state organizations and espionage under the Anti-Communist Law. The interpretation was that if they crossed the Military Demarcation Line to fish, assuming they were trained for espionage activities in the North, espionage charges would be recognized.

Due to these rulings, all abducted fishermen were regarded as spies. In 1971 alone, about 300 fishermen in the Sokcho area were arrested for illegal fishing beyond the line. These fishermen and their families suffered from constant surveillance and control, deprived even of basic rights as citizens of the Republic of Korea. Until the 1980s, incidents of fabricating abducted fishermen and their families as spies were rampant, forcing them to live in silence. It was the worst shackle created by the division and Cold War between South and North Korea.