SEOUL : Fifty-eight years ago, a war broke out on the Korean peninsula, and today, the two sides - South and North Korea - remain technically at war and divided.

Although it has been more than five decades, there are still South Koreans - who were soldiers at the time - being kept against their will in North Korea.

One of the prisoners of war (POW), Kim Jin Soo, recently escaped the North. The 74-year-old POW fought in the Korean War at the age of 17 and was captured by the North Koreans in 1953.

All these years, he had been living in the communist state working as a coal miner. But earlier this month, he managed to escape North Korea and seek help from the South Korean authorities. He is now waiting to return home for the first time in 55 years

Kim is one of the hundreds of POWs who were never sent back home after the three-year Korean War ended with the signing of an armistice in 1953.

The Korean government admits there are more than 500 POWs in North Korea, but there are no official talks underway between the two Koreas to bring them back home

"In about a year or two, many of them (POWs) will pass away due to old age. If the government does not tackle this issue with North Korea, they could all die," said Choi Sung Yong, who heads the association of abductees' families.

And as South Koreans remember the Korean War on Wednesday, some said the South Korean government should be taking action.

"It doesn't make sense. In other countries, they are even searching for dead bodies, and Japan is trying to bring home their abducted citizens. We cannot just do nothing," said a South Korean.

Events were held at the War Memorial in Seoul to ensure that the younger generation do not forget the Korean War, which has not officially ended since a peace treaty has never been signed.

A recent survey of about 1,000 middle and high school students showed that 57 per cent of them did not know that the Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950. 51 percent of the respondents did not know that the war broke out with the invasions of the North Koreans.

And as young South Koreans begin to forget the Korean War, many will not understand why Kim struggled for 55 years to try to return to the country that he fought to defend, and the hundreds of POWs who were caught by the North Koreans and are still waiting for their government to come and rescue them. - CNA /ls