Overview

• The Unification Ministry confirmed receiving formal petitions from six surviving former North Korean soldiers and spies seeking return to the North.
• The group includes Yang Won-jin, 96, and Ahn Hak-sop, 95, who were jailed for decades after refusing to renounce socialist beliefs.
• Ahn announced plans to attempt a crossing at 10 a.m. Wednesday via Panmunjom and asked the government and the United Nations Command to handle notification and transfer steps.
• Officials said no decision has been made on repatriation and noted the request is under humanitarian review, adding that a Wednesday handover would be difficult due to required consultations with the North.
• Advocates invoked the Geneva Conventions and pointed to a 2000 precedent when 63 unconverted prisoners were sent through Panmunjom, with no comparable transfers since.