A 95-year-old former North Korean soldier who spent decades imprisoned in the South will continue his campaign to return to the North, an activist said Thursday, after South Korean troops stopped his symbolic border march this week.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A 95-year-old former North Korean soldier who spent decades imprisoned in the South will continue his campaign to return to the North, an activist said Thursday, after South Korean troops stopped his symbolic border march this week.

Flanked by activists and holding a North Korean flag, Ahn Hak-sop walked toward an inter-Korean bridge in the border town of Paju on Wednesday, demanding that South Korean authorities arrange his repatriation to the North, when soldiers stopped him at a checkpoint.

Ahn, who complained of knee pain during the incident, was taken to a hospital and is now recovering at his home in Gimpo, near the capital city of Seoul, activist Cha Eun-jeong said. Cha said she expects Ahn to join a weekend protest in Seoul calling for his return to North Korea.

“He said it felt good to have an opportunity to speak his mind in front of journalists,” even though he was turned back by the soldiers, Cha said.

Ahn was born in what is now South Korea’s border island of Ganghwa in 1930, when the Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule. Japan’s defeat in World War II liberated Korea, but the peninsula was then divided into a U.S.-backed, capitalist South and a Soviet-supported, socialist North — a separation cemented by the devastating 1950–53 Korean War.

  • Stamau123@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    174·
    1 day ago

    “He said it felt good to have an opportunity to speak his mind in front of journalists,” even though he was turned back by the soldiers, Cha said.

    Bruh, I don’t think you know what you’re trying to accomplish, but whatever makes you happy I guess

      • VeryFrugal@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        31·
        9 hours ago

        Yes, except that he had an opportunity to go back 20 years ago, among with 63 other people.

        Those people did an interview right after they went back (translated using LLM):

        “Among the youth and students of South Joseon, it is said that those who do not take photos with an image of the General(Mr.Kim) in their hearts are treated as backward and inadequate.”

        “At universities, it has become fashionable to place an image of the General at the top of bulletin boards and feature extensive articles on his revolutionary history and brilliant achievements. Due to this ‘General craze,’ clerks at large department stores are walking around in People’s Army uniforms.”

        This is the video that the people of South Korea should have seen. It alone would have shown them what a remarkable place North Korea is. In just nine months, it turned people who had endured decades of imprisonment for their chosen ideology into frauds. Of course, among them was one who bowed their head, fidgeting with their hands with an awkward expression.

        By all means, please go back.