Korea: "Return My Wife" Rescue Drive Announced (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) Korean citizen Mr. Kwack Byung-ho and Ko Sung-nyo, an ethnic Korean woman in China, were married on May 18, 2003 in China. When Ms. Ko Sung-nyo did paperwork to go to Korea, her passport application was denied several times by the Chinese public security institutions because she refused to give up her practice of Falun Gong. She was then unlawfully abducted on May 7, 2004. In response to this, a non-governmental "Ko Sung-nyo Rescue Committee" was established on August 14, 2004 in Korea. A rescue drive entitled, "Return my wife" thus began.

On August 24, the "Ko Sung-nyo Rescue Committee" held a press conference at the Korea Center for Speech and Finance. Ms. Ko's husband and elder sister described how Ms. Ko was arrested and detained in China to the eight media outlets and three human rights organizations attending the conference. They also answered reporters' questions.

Press conference room

A reporter asking questions

Mr. Kwack Byung-ho was unable to determine what crimes his wife has committed, "According to my father-in-law, when my wife was arrested, she was tortured. There were many wounds and bruises on her body, and her face was also swollen. Therefore the police did not allow my wife to meet with family members. I can't understand why people would be imprisoned simply because they practice cultivation. What exactly have Falun Gong practitioners done wrong? It's ridiculous that they are imprisoned without doing anything wrong. If someone is arrested for stealing or beating others, I can understand that. But I can't tolerate nor can I understand that people would be arrested and detained simply because they practice Falun Gong."

Ms. Ko Sung-nyo's elder sister was very worried and said, "My younger sister has to do hard labor from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the labor camp. It is very hard, and during the process, I don't know how many times she was beaten up..."

A policy-making member of the "Ko Sung-nyo Rescue Committee" remarked, "There are no legal grounds for Ms. Ko to be arrested and detained. The arrest is an illegal act. In order to urge the Chinese government to release Ko Sung-nyo as soon as possible, we will follow this incident and raise the public awareness of the human rights violations that are taking place in China."

Delivering petition letters to different governmental offices

After the press conference, Mr. Kwack Byung-ho and some members of the rescue committee visited several governmental offices including the President's office, the Parliament Speaker's office, the Prime Minister's office, and the Trade Department of the Foreign Affairs Ministry to deliver petition letters calling upon the Korean government to support and help this rescue drive. It was reported that 209 Chinese family members of non-Chinese have been arrested and detained in China because of their practice of Falun Gong. In Korea, this is the first case.