'Tortured to Become a 'Weapon of Murder'… We Were Deceived with Promises of Livelihood'

"We were completely isolated, let alone given vacations. They didn't even inform us when our fathers passed away, and conversely, if we died, our families were never notified."

This is what Ha Tae-jun, the 67-year-old chairman of the Association of Bereaved Families of Special Mission Operatives, said in an interview with the media while reflecting on the lives of operatives who existed "outside the constitution," having trained as a "Special Mission Operative" (North Korea-bound operative) for three years starting in 1984.

Recently, as the drama 'Kim Bu-jang', starring actor So Ji-sub and featuring a protagonist who is a former special mission operative, has gained popularity, the lives of these operatives, filled with past resentment, are being re-examined.

Special mission operatives, whose very existence was classified, were sent to North Korea under the command of the military and intelligence agencies starting in 1948, during the ongoing inter-Korean standoff, with secret missions such as capturing or killing enemy soldiers and gathering intelligence.

It is estimated that as many as 13,000 people were sent to North Korea from the time of the Korean War until 1972, when the July 4th South-North Joint Statement was announced.

Among them, the number of those officially classified as missing alone reaches 7,726.

Chairman Ha said, "The government mainly recruited people who were worried about their next meal, promising that they would work for a state agency for the rest of their lives and be provided with a livelihood."

He expressed his indignation, saying that they were not told what kind of work they would actually be doing, adding, "The state committed fraud against its own citizens."

Applicants were reportedly taken to training camps isolated from the outside world under the pretext of physical fitness tests, without even notifying their families, and were subjected to extreme training to become "weapons of murder."

Ruthless beatings and torture training were standard, and some unit members even lost their lives or were left with lifelong disabilities during the training process.

The existence of these individuals, who had been buried in the shadows for a long time, finally surfaced after a court acknowledged the existence of special mission operatives in 2002 and the Special Act on Compensation for Special Mission Operatives was enacted in 2004.

However, survivors and bereaved families unanimously say that sufficient restoration of honor or compensation is still inadequate.

Currently, special mission patriots are excluded from the regular allowances received by war veterans or other national patriots.

Chairman Ha emphasized, "The state must provide appropriate compensation for the contributions, sacrifices, and damages of the special mission operatives, and establish support policies and treatment befitting them."

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.