Standing Co-Chairperson of the National Alliance for North-South Co-ProsperityAn individual named Ahn Hak-seop (95 years old), a long-term prisoner who refused to renounce his beliefs, reportedly pleaded to be sent to the North, stating he wished to spend his remaining days among his comrades. However, he is not even a North Korean. He is a South Korean who, during the Korean War, enlisted in the North Korean army to fight against the US forces, was captured, and became a prisoner of war.

I am writing this article with the thought that South Korea is a truly foolish nation, where a person who betrayed his homeland, South Korea, is still alive and brazenly demanding to go to his comrades in North Korea.

In March 1993, Lee In-mo, a long-term prisoner who refused to renounce his beliefs, was repatriated to North Korea. North Korea actively exploited Lee In-mo for propaganda purposes. The Kim family presented Lee In-mo with the Order of Kim Il-sung and the title of Hero, even making him the protagonist of an art film, to demonstrate how well those loyal to them would fare.

His hometown elementary school in Pabal-ri, Yanggang Province, was renamed 'Lee In-mo Elementary School.' He received medical treatment at the Bonghwa Clinic on par with the Kim Il-sung family, and was even sent to the United States for medical treatment.

In return for Kim Il-sung's consideration, Lee In-mo continuously wrote idolatrous articles encouraging loyalty to the leader. His writings were featured prominently in the Rodong Sinmun. North Koreans struggled to emulate 'Lee In-mo's example.'

One day, however, Lee In-mo expressed a desire to see North Korea's 're-education camps.' Perhaps due to Kim Jong-il's directive to 'grant all of In-mo's requests,' officials guided him to the 'International Correction Center' in Sariwon City. The International Correction Center is a facility where only foreigners who have committed crimes, families of anti-Japanese fighters, and families of high-ranking officials are imprisoned. The facilities and treatment of inmates are relatively decent, making it a place shown to international human rights organizations.

Lee In-mo remained silent throughout his tour of the International Correction Center. Believing that Lee In-mo was deeply moved by the experience after enduring a long imprisonment in "South Korea, where people cannot live," the North Korean officials confidently asked, "Comrade Lee In-mo, what are your impressions after your visit?"

After a long pause, Lee In-mo uttered a statement like a nuclear bomb that shook the entire North Korean system: "If it were a place like this, I wouldn't have lasted even three years, let alone 34 years, in South Korea!!" The North Korean officials were speechless and could only stare at Lee In-mo's face. Within 30 minutes from that moment, the content of Lee In-mo's statement was directly reported to Kim Jong-il.

Upon receiving the report, Kim Jong-il slammed his fist on the table and exclaimed, "Indeed, those who have tasted freedom can never be trusted." From then on, Kim Jong-il frequently stated, "Even after unification, we must never trust those who engaged in anti-government activities in a free society like South Korea."

From then on, Lee In-mo lived in solitude, treated as 'useless dead weight who has betrayed the Leader's trust,' and passed away alone in June 2007.

This is the desolate end given to a long-term prisoner who abandoned the free Republic of Korea and sought loyalty to a dictator. Subsequently, the North Korean dictator enshrined Lee In-mo's body, which could no longer speak, in the Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery and staged a show as if to honor long-term prisoners.

Naturally, following that incident, the 63 long-term prisoners repatriated in September 2000, with the exception of one or two selected for propaganda purposes, live meagerly under surveillance, relying only on a 600g rice ration and a few allocated daily necessities, just like ordinary Pyongyang citizens. The long-term prisoners have nothing to offer their families upon returning to North Korea. Instead, they only bring suspicion and surveillance upon their families.

I only realized the true meaning of Kim Jong-il's words, "Those who have tasted freedom can never be trusted," after coming to South Korea and experiencing a free life. Those who have lived in a free land like South Korea cannot survive for even a moment in a society like North Korea. It is just like the truth that cannot be hidden in a sheath.

If long-term prisoners who refused to renounce their beliefs thought, "I did not renounce my beliefs and was loyal to North Korea, so I will receive special treatment if repatriated," they would be greatly mistaken. North Korea views these long-term prisoners as troublesome individuals. While this may be heartbreaking for them, it is merely the truth.

Frankly, I don't understand why the government sends long-term prisoners to the North, making such a foolish mistake. Especially why the state, using taxpayer money to feed and care for traitors like Ahn Hak-seop, who betrayed the country and is now over 95 years old, grovels like a debt-ridden servant. North Korea, on the other hand, actively uses such individuals to carry out acts that destroy the Republic of Korea.

Even now, all pro-North Korean elements, not just long-term prisoners who refuse to renounce their beliefs, should be sent to North Korea so they can learn how depraved a human animal becomes when it abandons freedom and can end their lives in that suffering.

After all, in a Republic of Korea that has become a mere shell with North Korea and China already controlling it, what shameful and dirty things wouldn't happen?

It is truly lamentable that in South Korea, criminals who would have long been executed in a place like North Korea are instead making a mockery of the state and its citizens.