Group to sue N. Korea over POWs, KIAs

SEOUL, July 25 (UPI) -- A South Korean group said it will sue North Korea in the International Criminal Court over South Korean soldiers captured or killed during the Korean War.

Park Sun-young, a former lawmaker who championed the rights of North Korean defectors and South Korean prisoners of war, said the move was to pressure North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to repatriate South Korean soldiers taken prisoner and return remains of those killed during the 1950-53 conflict, the Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday.

The organization said it also plans to present a petition to the United Nations Human Rights Council this fall. The group said it would file suit with the ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, in September.

Park said the organization also plans to upload testimonies of former South Korean POWs to YouTube to raise international awareness.

"The pressure will be enormous," she said.

South Korea officials said they believe about 500 POWs are still alive in North Korea. Pyongyang has denied holding any POWs, claiming former South Korean soldiers defected, Yonhap said.

Park alleged the soldiers are forced to work in North Korean mines, citing testimony by some of the 56 former POWs who escaped after spending decades in North Korea.