It is relatively well known that about 83,000 South Koreans were taken to North Korea during the Korean War. In addition, South Korea's statistics claim that 486 Koreans have been abducted by North Korea since the end of the Korean War. Most of them were captured while fishing near the DMZ, but some were abducted by North Korean agents in South Korea.

South Korean victims have been neglected in South Korea. Under anti-communist military dictatorship, people feared the exposure of the existence of their relatives in North Korea. After democratization, this fear was replaced by systematic negligence under the Sunshine Policy. President Kim Dae-jung did not bring the issue of the abductions in the first North-South presidential summit in 2000, and in the following negotiations, North Korea denied their existence. President Roh Moo-hyun, who took over Kim's Sunshine Policy, has attached more importance to keeping good relations with North Korea than pressing the issue of the abductees.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• North Korean abductions of Japanese