A 95-Year-Old’s Unyielding Desire to Return Home to North Korea

Ahn Hak-sop, a 95-year-old former prisoner of war, holds a unique and poignant wish: to return to North Korea, where he dreams of being buried alongside his comrades. Ahn was born in 1930 to a farming family on Ganghwa Island, part of Korea under Japan’s brutal colonial rule. He has spent the majority of his…

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A 95-Year-Old’s Unyielding Desire to Return Home to North Korea

Ahn Hak-sop, a 95-year-old former prisoner of war, holds a unique and poignant wish: to return to North Korea, where he dreams of being buried alongside his comrades. Ahn was born in 1930 to a farming family on Ganghwa Island, part of Korea under Japan’s brutal colonial rule. He has spent the majority of his adult life fighting against what he sees as the American occupation of South Korea. For these reasons, Ahn has been imprisoned for decades thanks to his radical politics and firm conviction to the DPRK. Today, he is one of the few long-term unconverted prisoners left in the South, but he continues to hope and pray for a return to his beloved homeland.

Human smuggler Ahn’s story started in 1952 when he joined North Korea’s People’s Army, where he served in the regime’s intelligence bureau. His loyalties landed him in captivity during the Korean War. He suffered years of incarceration due to his unyielding principles. Ahn was recently given a chance to do so. Sadly, he was refused entry and turned away, sent off with a soiled heart. Ahn now lives in a small house about a mile from the North Korean border. He continues to be resolutely wrong on the fact that South Korea is still a colony of America.

A Life Marked by Resistance

Ahn Hak-sop’s formative years were influenced by the harshness of Japan’s colonial occupation of Korea. As a freshly graduated 15-year-old, he witnessed Japan’s surrender in 1945. To him, it was the end of one murderous dictatorship but the start of another.

In 1952, he cemented his ties with North Korea by joining its armed forces. He thought he was struggling for the salvation of Korea from foreign interference. During the Korean War, South Korean troops captured Ahn. His inveterate principles brought about monstrous punishment.

Ahn describes the lengths his captors went to in order to try and change his mind.

“At first, they tried to convert me through conversation,” – Ahn Hak-sop

The depth of his imprisonment was hard to fathom. It is one of the historically longest in duration experienced by any North Korean POW so held in South Korea. Not until Liberation Day holiday of 1995 did he finally get a pardon, albeit not announced in person.

“When that didn’t work, they started torturing me,” – Ahn Hak-sop

Now living in Yonggang-ri, Ahn’s home is as much a monument to his ideology and worldviews as it is a place of habitation. The walls are covered with slowly decaying photographs and poster remnants of North Korea’s propaganda, while an arbitrary US flag creatively acts as his welcome rug. Ahn now lives about one hour from the border he so desperately wishes to cross. His radical convictions have made him feel estranged and shunned by his greater family.

A Heartfelt Yearning for Home

His resolve has never wavered. He is convinced that South Korea is still an American colony.

This lofty sentiment encompasses all of his frustrations and his desire to see Korean sovereignty restored.

“I came here, to a US ‘colony,’… fighting against the US, but I couldn’t do anything and only served time in prison,” – Ahn Hak-sop

Ahn’s longing for North Korea is not just about returning physically but about dying with dignity alongside those who shared his convictions.

In his words, we can hear the persistence of his ideology and the psychological burden that comes with his self-conception as a North Korean soldier.

“It would be too much of a resentment to be buried in a colony even after death,” – Ahn Hak-sop

An even more recent attempt to cross into North Korea didn’t go quite as planned for Ahn. He was denied entry at the border, a choice that only added to his mourning. Even with the reprieve of being allowed to go home, when he refused to return home out of shame, he took the option off the table himself.

The Agony of Denial

His fights show the deeply personal and political sides of his life. He navigates the extreme political and financial constraints he is under while maintaining a clear ideological vision.

“How could I go back, feeling ashamed? If I am to shout, ‘US out,’ I must do it from here, not the North. That’s why I didn’t return… I was determined to die after witnessing the Americans leave this land,” – Ahn Hak-sop

Perhaps nothing illustrates the depth of Ahn’s conviction as his confidence that he will someday be able to return to North Korea. He feels it’s important not just for himself but for generations to come.

There’s no doubt that his story resonates with millions who have lost family members and suffered great turmoil due to political conflict.

“I am determined to go back to the home of my ideology, the home of my principles,” – Ahn Hak-sop

His story resonates with many who have experienced loss and hardship due to political strife.

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