A local civic group and a Polish research institute are publicizing new data... and a website to provide information on North Korean society during and after the Korean War.
It gives an inside look at the country's history... with a focus on the human rights situation in Pyeongyang.
Yoon Jung-min reports.
A South Korean civic group held a briefing on Thursday in Seoul and unveiled the 'North Korean Archives Project'... as well as a new website where people can access information on North Korea from the 1950s to the 1990s.

The data was collected by secret services of the former communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe,... and the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) in Poland has decided to publicize them,... for better awareness of the situation in the North during the Korean War -- from 1950 to 1953 -- and beyond.

"Both me and co-author of this project who is at the IPN, Rafal Leskiewicz, dedicated this project to the young generations of North and South Koreans interested in processes of truth-telling, truth-seeking, memorialization and justice, which we think are irreplaceable components of peace-building measure in society."

The data includes documents and rare photos of post-war North Korea, Poland's reconstruction aid projects in the country and historical records on the socio-political situation on the Peninsula.

Also included are records of Korean orphans who were sent to Poland during the war and files related to U.S. and British prisoners of war detained in the North.

Last year, the story about the orphans was also unveiled through a documentary film, "The Children Gone to Poland" by South Korean actress and director Chu Sang-mi.

The civic group hopes that their information can aid victims of human rights violations in the North and seek out historical truth.

Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.