"Unconverted long-term prisoners" is the North Korean term for northern loyalists imprisoned in South Korea who never renounced Juche.
[2] In March 1998, South Korean president Kim Dae-jung declared an amnesty for long-term prisoners over the age of 70, as well as some suffering from disease.
[4] In 2000, as part of the June 15th North–South Joint Declaration, sixty-three of the prisoners were permitted to settle in North Korea.
[6][7] They crossed the border by bus through the truce village of Panmunjom at 10 AM on 2 September 2000, while a group of Southern protesters decried their return and demanded that the North return abducted Southerners; they were welcomed on the Northern side by a reception with a brass band playing revolutionary songs,[8] and each was later awarded the National Reunification Prize.
[9] In 2003, South Korean director Kim Dong-won released Repatriation, a documentary about the unconverted prisoners, based on more than 12 years and 800 hours of filming.