South Korea is attempting to get North Korea to free six of its citizens in the wake of Pyongyang's release of three Americans on Wednesday, Yonhap News Agency reported.
"Our government has worked to resolve the detainee issue through inter-Korean talks and cooperation with the international community, and it will continue to make active efforts to bring back those detainees as soon as possible," unification ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said Wednesday, per the report.
Among the six prisoners are three pastors — Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kuk-gi, and Choe Chun-gil — who were given life sentences at hard labor on charges of spying for South Korea, the Yonhap report said.
The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea welcomed the release of the three Americans, but noted many are still being held in North Korea, The New York Times reported.
"It is time to remember the nationals of Japan, South Korea, and other countries who were abducted and are still held in North Korea," said Greg Scarlatoiu, the executive director of the committee.
"It is also a time to remember the 120,000 men, women, and children held in North Korea's political prison camps, as well as political prisoners held at other unlawful detention facilities," he added.
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