Unification minister asks US support to free S. Korean detainees in NK

South Korea's Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho on Monday asked for the United States' support to repatriate South Korean nationals forcibly detained in North Korea and called for enhanced cooperation between the allies in addressing human rights abuses in North Korea.

Kim conveyed his appeal during a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell in Washington, as part of his six-day visit that began Sunday, the Unification Ministry in Seoul said Tuesday.

Kim's visit marked the first official trip by a South Korean unification minister to the US since 2019.

The meeting between Kim and Campbell "focused on cooperation between South Korea and the US in promoting human rights in North Korea and resolving the issues of those abducted and detained by North Korea, as well as prisoners of war" from the 1950-53 Korean War, according to the ministry.

Kim also "called for the US government to provide support and help in bringing back six of our nationals who have been detained in North Korea," the ministry added.

The six detainees include missionaries Kim Jung-wook, who was arrested by North Korean authorities in 2013, as well as Kim Kook-kie and Choi Chun-gil, who have been detained since 2015. Additionally, three North Korean defectors who obtained South Korean citizenship have been detained there since 2016.

Kim also emphasized the salience of the cooperation between the allies in "leading the international community's solidarity in resolving North Korean human rights issues" and "creating conditions that leave North Korea no option but to move toward dialogue for denuclearization through deterrence and dissuasion," according to the ministry.

During his meeting with Campbell, Kim explained the progress and direction of the Yoon Suk Yeol government's new unification discourse, which will change South Korea's official unification formula for the first time in 30 years since 1994.

In the latter part of the meeting, with the participation of North Korean defectors Kim Geum-hyok and Kang Gyu-ri (alias), Kim and Campbell listened to the reasons behind their decision to defect and the realities experienced by millennials and Generation Z in North Korea.

The US State Department said Campbell "reiterated US support for the reunification of separated families, including Korean American divided families and ROK detainees, abductees and unrepatriated POWs; the welfare of the North Korean people; and an enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula" in a separate statement.

Campbell and Kim "emphasized the importance of deterring DPRK aggression and addressing the destabilizing impacts of deepening cooperation between the DPRK and Russia on international peace and the global nonproliferation regime," according to Washington.

The acronyms ROK and DPRK represent the official names of South Korea and North Korea, respectively: the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to US-ROK collaboration, promoting accountability for DPRK human rights abuses, and supporting unfettered access to information for North Koreans," the State Department said.

Kim also delivered his opening speech on the first day of the 2024 International Dialogue on North Korean Human Rights, a two-day event held overseas for the first time, especially after South Korea's first celebration of "North Korean Defectors' Day" on July 14.

"The ROK-US alliance is an alliance based on shared values of freedom, democracy and human rights," Kim said in his English-language speech. "Based on the solid ROK-US alliance, we will be able to deter North Korea’s military provocation, defend liberal democratic international order and resolve North Korea’s human rights issues."