Unification official visits family of detainee in N. Korea

Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung

Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung visited the family of a South Korean missionary held captive in North Korea since 2013, the ministry said Saturday.

The Vice Minister visited Kim Jung-wook's family on Friday to comfort them and explain the government's ongoing efforts to bring the 53-year-old Christian missionary safely back home.

"We will continue doing our best to successfully repatriate detainees using all the resources at our disposal," Chun was quoted by the ministry as saying to the family.

Kim has been held in the North since October 2013 on charges of entering the country secretly, plotting to overthrow the regime and spying for South Korea's intelligence agency. He was sentenced to hard labor for life.

Including Kim, there are six South Koreans in captivity in the North.

Choe Chun-gil and Kim Kuk-gi, two other missionaries who were arrested in February and October 2014, respectively, have also been sentenced to hard labor for life.

The three remaining detainees are North Korean defectors.

The North has been absolutely unresponsive to any requests by Seoul about the detainees, such as talking about their release or having their family visit them. (Yonhap)

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