Two South Koreans, listed as killed in action during the Korean war, have escaped from North Korea after at least 45 years in captivity, Seoul's top intelligence agency said yesterday.
The two, identified as Kim Bok-ki, 67, and Park Dong-il, 71, recently returned to South Korea via a third country, believed to be China.
They were captured during the Korean War by Chinese troops during a battle at Keumhwa, near the border now separating the two Koreas, the statement said.
Both Kim and Park were forced into slave labour at coal mines in the reclusive north before escaping.
South Korea's defence ministry had listed them as among the tens of thousands killed in action during the 1950-53 conflict, which ended in a truce rather than a formal peace treaty. The two Koreas remain technically at war.
Kim and Park are being held for questioning. Some 20,000 South Korean soldiers were posted missing during the Korean War. - Reuters
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