South Korea Awards Minimal Compensation to Family of Abducted Defector Journalist

The family of Ham Jin-woo will receive roughly 19 million won (US$12,400) in government compensation after South Korea formally recognized him as a victim of North Korean abduction, the unification ministry said Thursday. The ministry's compensation review committee approved the payout on June 4, 2026. The total sum was calculated based on the minimum wage and the length of his captivity.

Ham Jin-woo vanished in May 2017 while working as a journalist for a North Korea-focused media outlet along the North Korea-China border. He is a North Korean defector-turned-journalist. The government formally designated Ham as an abductee victim in March.

Thursday's decision follows that designation. Seoul has now paid compensation to the families of six South Korean abductees, excluding one who has no family members in the South. "The decision was made in line with the government's stance that it broadly recognizes abductee victims arising from the separation of the two Koreas and continues to actively solve their sufferings," the ministry said.

North Korea has detained seven South Koreans -- three missionaries and four North Korean defectors who obtained South Korean nationality. Six other people, apart from Ham, are believed to have been held in the North more than a decade. This Yonhap News TV image shows three South Korea missionaries believed to have been held captive in North Korea.