Even after the signing of the Armistice Agreement in July 1953, North Korea kidnapped South Koreans by various means. 3,319 persons have been returned to the South out of the 3,835 persons who were kidnapped to the North after the Armistice Agreement. 3,310 of those who have returned to the South were repatriated by the North, while nine persons voluntarily returned to the South after escaping from North Korea while detained in the North. The South Korean government estimates that 516 South Korean post-war abductees are still detained in the North.

North Korea abducted South Koreans mostly in the period from the mid-1950s to the 1970s. The majority of them were fishermen, but five high-school students and nine other persons were kidnapped overseas. The majority of the abductees were family heads responsible for the livelihood of their families, who suffered great financial hardships, and some families were even disbanded painfully. The whole issue has inflicted tremendous mental and physical pain on their families as well as on the abductees themselves. Furthermore, North Korea utilized the abductees for the propaganda purposes of the regime or for infiltration into the South as espionage agents.

Number of post-war abductions