Ahn Hak-sop

Ahn Hak-sop (; born 1930) is a North Korean former intelligence officer in the Korean People's Army and unconverted long-term prisoner. He was captured and tortured by the South Korean military during the Korean War in April 1953 and imprisoned for over 42 years. He has been unable to return to North Korea, and is an activist against American military presence in South Korea.

Early life Ahn Hak-sop was born on Ganghwa Island in 1930. He grew up under the Japanese occupation of Korea and felt betrayed after the Japanese surrender when Douglas MacArthur proclaimed that Korea south of the 38th parallel would be placed under American control. He believed that Korea had not been liberated but rather changed colonial hands, and he became an anti-American political activist.

Ahn was in school in Kaesong when the Korean War began in 1950. He enlisted in the Korean People's Army in 1952, serving in the intelligence department.

Life in South Korea A South Korean military court sentenced Ahn to life in prison on espionage charges. He was tortured and kept in a small solitary cell. In 2000, the South Korean government repatriated 63 North Korean prisoners of war, but Ahn chose to stay in the South because he wanted to continue to protest against the American military presence in Korea. In 2004, a South Korean government panel acknowledged the deaths of 77 prisoners of war from torture. Another panel acknowledged that Ahn was a victim of torture. South Korean authorities told him that they have no avenues to communicate with the North Korean government, and that repatriation is only possible if the North Korean government reaches out. In August 2025, Ahn and supporters staged a symbolic march to the North Korean border to demand his repatriation.