By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter

Chon Yong-il, a 72-year-old former war prisoner who had been detained in China for 41 days after fleeing North Korea in May, returned home on Wednesday for the first time after the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

``I have served the nation for the past 50 years,’’ said the teary-eyed Chon overwhelmed by emotion at his arrival at the Incheon International Airport in the afternoon. ``I cannot forget this moment in my lifetime.’’

Chon’s flight, originally scheduled to take off at around 10:30 a.m. local time, was delayed for several hours due to bad weather condition.

He was earlier expected to be sent next month, but South Korea’s strong demands toward the Chinese authorities advanced the homecoming, according to government officials.

``We’ve made our best effort to bring Chon home within the year,’’ said Park Joon-woo, deputy director-general of the Asia-Pacific affairs bureau at the Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry.

President Roh Moo-hyun expressed his delight saying, ``His return will be a Christmas present for the whole nation.’’

Chon was accompanied by a female North Korean defector and both were in good health, officials said. Recent findings suggest the woman is not Chon’s wife as was claimed by the returned soldier.

He will be united with four family members in Taegu, including his 78-year-old sister, after going through the necessary procedures such as confirmation of his status as a prisoner of war (POW) and resident registration as a South Korean national. The old soldier will be officially discharged from military service in a special ceremony at his division as early as next month.

In the meantime, Chon will likely receive some 400 million won ($333,360) as a settlement subsidy, which is comprised of delayed payments, a military pension and the housing patronage, the Defense Ministry said.

Chon was taken prisoner as an army private by the North in the closing weeks of the war at the age of 21 in Kangwon Province.

He fled to China in June, hoping for a trip to his much-dreamt-of homeland. However, he was arrested by Chinese authorities last month as he tried to board a Seoul-bound flight at an airport outside Shanghai with a forged passport. He came close to being deported to the Stalinist North, but the South Korean government intervened after requests from human rights activists.

Chon’s return will bring to 34 the number of South Korean POWs who have returned home after escaping North Korea.

The Defense Ministry estimates there are a total of 1,186 South Korean POWs in the North, with some 507 of them now believed to have died and some 179 classified still missing in action. But, the North has flatly denied their existence. The Korean War ended in a ceasefire, not in a peace treaty, thus leaving the two Koreas technically in a state of war.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr