▲ Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul pays his respect at the memorial altar of Han Jae-bok, a former prisoner of war, at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, on Feb. 9, 2023, in this photo released by the defense ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

former POW-death

Gov't offers condolences over death of former S. Korean POW

SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- The government has expressed condolences over the death of a former South Korean prisoner of war, who was held in North Korea for five decades before returning home, the defense ministry said Friday.

Han Jae-bok died at the age of 89 on Wednesday. After being captured as a prisoner of war in 1951, Han was forced to work at a coal mine in the North. He fled the country and returned to the South in 2001.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and Veterans Minister Park Min-shik have sent condolence flowers to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, where his memorial altar was set up.

Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul visited the altar to pay his respects to Han, according to the ministry.

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