SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Wednesday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to release a South Korean Christian missionary who has been detained in the DPRK for about a year.
Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol told a press briefing that the government has been calling for the DPRK to set free Kim Jong-wook, who has been detained in the DPRK since October 2013.
Lim urged the DPRK to release Kim and repatriate him to South Korea as it set free Jeffrey Edward Fowle, one of three U.S. citizens detained in the DPRK.
His comments came after Pyongyang released Fowle, who had been detained in the DPRK since April, on Tuesday.
The spokesman said the South Korean government sent a notice to the DPRK on Sept. 12, which demanded the release of the South Korean missionary, after making various efforts to let the DPRK release Kim.
Kim was arrested on Oct. 8, 2013, one day after crossing into Pyongyang from Dandong, China. In late May, the missionary was sentenced to a life hard labor in a trial held in the DPRK for the "anti-state" crimes.
He was convicted of plotting to establish underground churches, subvert the government, illegally entering into the country and conducting spy activities at the behest of the South Korean spy agency.
TOKYO, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Japan will send a delegation to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) next Monday to investigate the Japanese nationals' abduction issue, Japan's Kyodo News said Wednesday.
The delegation, which groups around 10 official, will hold two- day talks with the DPRK's special investigation committee on the issue from Tuesday, the Kyodo News citing Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as saying. Full story
SEOUL, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Possibilities cannot be ruled out that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has recently heightened tensions near the inter-Korean border area to protest against South Korean civic groups flying anti-DPRK leaflets across the border, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday.
Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told a press briefing that there are some thinkable intentions of the DPRK behind provocations during the weekend, including preparations to shift responsibility on South Korea for another provocation in case of civic groups dispersing anti-DPRK leaflets in the border area. Full story
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