North Korean Ahn Hak-sop was captured during the Korean War and imprisoned for decades for refusing to renounce his political beliefs. Now aged 95, he has a single dying wish: to return home to be buried alongside his comrades.

Seoul

Ahn Hak-seok, a 95-year-old former North Korean soldier, was captured during the Korean War and has lived in South Korea for decades, much of it against his will. Recently, Ahn attempted to cross the heavily fortified border to return to North Korea, expressing his desire to spend his final days in his homeland. 

Ahn, who spent over 42 years in prison for refusing to renounce North Korea, was denied passage by South Korean authorities at the border. Despite previous opportunities to return, he remained in the South as a form of protest. Now facing health concerns, Ahn says he will continue trying to return to North Korea.

95-year-old North Korean prisoner of war wants to go back home to die

On a sweltering morning along South Korea's heavily fortified border, a frail 95-year-old shuffles towards North Korea. His name is Ahn Hak-seok, a North Korean soldier captured during the Korean War. He spent most of his life south of the border, he says, against his will. Ahn is pleading to be sent to North Korea, where he tells us he belongs. He and dozens of his supporters march to South Korea's unification bridge, one of the last military checkpoints before entering the DMZ. You can see Ahn behind us trying to get farther. This is the farthest point that most civilians can get on the path, on the roadway that would bring you towards North Korea. He says he's come this far, he is not going to stop. He pushed past police and walked to meet South Korean officers and soldiers. They said they were not authorized to let him cross. The wish in the twilight of Ahn's life denied for now. He left, as a precaution, in an ambulance. As for how he got here, Ahn was just 23 when he was captured during the Korean War. Convicted of being a spy, he refused to renounce the North, which would have made him eligible for parole. He would spend the next 42 years and six months in prison. He was pardoned in 1995, and had the chance to go back to North Korea in 2000. But he stayed South, he says, as an act of defiance against the presence of U.S. troops in South Korea. For Ahn, health scares this year led him to think he needs to return to North Korea before he dies. I want to go back to North Korea, to the starting point of my life, to the People's Republic of Korea. Even if I die, I want to be buried in the People's Republic of Korea. A man caught between two Koreas, still waiting, after seven decades, for a chance to go where he says is his true home. And after all of this, Ahn says he will try again. Mike Valerio, CNN, outside the DMZ, South Korea.

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Council of the City of Sydney

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Breakdown