Haecho (Kim A-hyun) and Kim Dong-hyeon, two Korean activists who were captured by Israeli forces after attempting to sail to Gaza on a humanitarian mission, speak to reporters at Incheon International Airport after arriving in South Korea on May 22, 2026. (Yonhap)
Two Korean activists captured at sea by Israel while on a humanitarian mission to Gaza returned to Korea on Friday morning. “The Gaza Strip remains isolated, and even after the talks, lots of people are dying not [only] because of bombing but because of starvation. There are people over there, so I think we have to attempt these voyages no matter how dangerous it may be in the Middle East,” the activist Haecho said.Haecho (aged 28, real name Kim A-hyun) and Kim Dong-hyeon arrived at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport at 7 am on Friday. The two activists were released by Israeli forces after being detained on a relief flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip.Haecho and Kim embraced and greeted activists who had come to welcome them home. The airport resounded with chants of “Peace for Palestine! Freedom for Palestine! Liberation for Palestine!”Haecho said that many of the people in her detention center had been beaten and struck by rubber bullets. She had been beaten as well, which made it hard to hear in her left ear.“Many countries’ consular offices aren’t doing their jobs because of the dangerous situation in the Middle East, and also because they want to avoid diplomatic conflict with Israel. I think the Korean government did what it was supposed to do,” she said.“What we experienced was Israel’s typical seizure of unarmed ships on the high seas and its torture and detention of civilians. This is the message I want to send: our brief taste of Israeli violence was unbearable, and Israel’s claims about acting under the law are completely untrue,” said Kim Dong-hyeon.Kim was on a boat called the Kyriakos X that was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters near Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea on May 18.Two days later, on May 20, Haecho, an activist with the Korean Flotilla for a Free Palestine, was detained by Israeli forces while sailing from Italy for the Gaza Strip aboard a ship called the Lina Al Nabulsi.Korean President Lee Jae Myung sharply criticized the Israeli military’s seizure of the relief boats during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, remarking that “it’s out of line and inhumane to detain Korean citizens for reasons that are unjustifiable under international law.”The IDF then released Haecho and Dong-hyeon on Thursday. Jonathan “Seungjoon” Victor Lee, a Korean American who was captured on the same vessel as Haecho, was also released that day and sent to Istanbul via Israel’s Ramon Airport, according to Haecho. This wasn’t Haecho’s first time being captured by Israel. Her boat was similarly captured during her first voyage to Gaza as part of a humanitarian flotilla in October 2025, and she was released with the aid of consular staff after being held in detention in Israel. Upon learning that she planned to participate in another flotilla to Gaza, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs invalidated her passport, purportedly for her own safety. However, she was already out of the country at the time. Haecho was able to reenter Korea on Thursday with specially issued travel documentation. While welcoming home the two activists, Korea Flotilla for Free Palestine noted the president’s remarks about Israel violating international law and reviewing the enforcement of the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu.“It is only right that the government of Korea has finally spoken out about Israel’s illegal seizure and detention [of flotilla activists] and taken diplomatic measures, and it is only sensible that it would spare no diplomatic effort to facilitate the prompt return of Korean nationals,” the group said. But the group remained critical of the government’s decision to invalidate Haecho’s passport. “Far from protecting her as a peace activist, the invalidation of Haecho’s passport is a violation of her human rights that only increased the risk she faced as she had to navigate numerous countries in Europe as an undocumented migrant,” the group said, calling for her passport to be reinstated immediately. “Rhetorical condemnation of Israel’s violations of international law isn’t enough. The Lee administration must take accountability for Korea’s complicity and stop aiding, abetting and profiting off the genocide of Palestinians and the occupation of Palestine,” the group added. By Park Ko-eun, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
