Seoul hopes to bring back 6 S. Korean detainees through inter-Korean talks

Arirang News 2018-05-11

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With North Korea's release of the formerly detained Americans, attention here in the South shifts to the six South Koreans being held hostage by Pyongyang.
Our Oh Jung-hee sheds light on who the detainees are... and what Seoul plans to do to win their freedom.
Now that the three U.S. citizens, who had been detained in North Korea, are back home, focus in Seoul is now on its own citizens who are still behind bars in the North.
There are six South Koreans held in the North -- three missionaries... and three people who escaped from the regime but were taken back.

Arirang News had an opportunity to meet with Kim Jeong-sam,... the elder brother of Kim Jeong-wook, one of the three missionaries.
Kim Jeong-wook provided food and accommodation for North Korean citizens... and taught Christian principles in Dandong, a city on China's border with North Korea.
But he was caught by the regime in 2013... for what the North called 'anti-state crimes'.
Kim's family in South Korea found out through media reports that Kim was detained... but since then, they haven't heard anything about him.

"There has been no response from North Korea, even when the South Korean government has raised the issue,... or when I sent a letter through the International Committee of the Red Cross. I don't know if he's alive or dead."

He hopes that a string of inter-Korean talks following the summit last month could lead to a change in his brother's situation.

The Seoul government says it's pouring efforts to bring back South Korean detainees.
The presidential office of Chung Wa Dae told reporters... the government's measures or policies might not be visible all the time, but everything is being done to bring them back to Seoul.
While the first round of inter-Korean high-level talks after the summit are expected to be held next week,... Seoul's unification ministry says... it will continue to work on humanitarian issues through coming opportunities.

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