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◼︎ The first ROK POW to return alive, 'Return after 43 years' There was a man who was desperately searching for the hand of his country while floating in the dark sea. 'Army Second Lieutenant Jo Chang-ho, Military Number 212966' The last 40 years he had lived were in a sea of much worse weather than the sea he had crossed. It took him only 10 minutes to escape North Korea, where he risked his life fighting on the front lines for his country and was confined for his entire life in a land of suffering. And he had to struggle for 70 hours to cross the dark sea through China. Finally, his homeland, 43 years after he was captured. ◼︎ The Lost 43 Years, Jo Chang-ho's Too Long War Waged Alone Jo Chang-ho's lost 43 years begin with the Korean War. Jo Chang-ho, who ran to the battlefield at the call of his country at the young age of 20. In 1951, he was captured by the Chinese army during the Battle of Hanseoksan, and was sent to the infamous Manpo Reeducation Camp, Aoji Special Prison Camp, and Kanggye Reeducation Camp in North Korea, experiencing what a subhuman life was like. When he was released after serving his 13-year sentence, only 50 out of 500 prisoners survived. He was reassigned to the Hwapung Mine and the Hwahwa Mine in Junggangjin. The result of his hard forced labor in the 1,000-meter-deep mine was silicosis and a stroke. After living for 43 years looking only at the South, he finally decided to end the long war and return to the South... ◼︎ Why couldn't he forget his country? Until Jo Chang-ho returned alive, South Korean prisoners of war were completely forgotten. However, they did not forget their country. Only about 40 South Korean prisoners of war have escaped North Korea and entered the country. Jo Chang-ho had given up all hope when he turned 60. He left a will asking his children to write “a person from the South” instead of his name on his tombstone. ◼︎ The last shadow of division, a war that has not ended More than half a century has passed since the armistice agreement was signed, but POWs and their families are still unable to escape the shadow of war and live each day in deep longing. The number of POWs who survived in North Korea was estimated at around 2,000 in the mid-1990s. These people, who were young during the Korean War, are now elderly. It is not the job of the state to wait for POWs to return on their own. Just as the state forced its citizens to fulfill their duties when faced with a national crisis, it is the state’s natural duty to protect and safeguard its citizens in difficult times. As long as the sorrow of POWs, victims of the Cold War and pushed to the corner, does not subside, the tragedy of division will never end. Modern History of People Episode 45 – The Dead Who Returned Alive, Jo Chang-ho (Broadcast on June 25, 2004) http://history.kbs.co.kr/