SOUTH KOREA – South Korea confirmed on Thursday that 6 of its nationals were detained in North Korea on various charges, including espionage.

South Korea’s presidential office said the detainees include three South Koreans and three North Korean defectors who had previously resettled in the South and were granted South Korean citizenship, according to Yonhap News.

These people have been held in the North on various charges between 2013 and 2016.

Among those detained are three Christian missionaries:

Kim Jung-wook
Kim Kook-kie
Choi Chun-gil

The 3 were arrested by North Korean authorities in 2013 and 2014.

“As inter-Korean talks and exchanges were long suspended, the suffering of our people continues and the issue needs to be urgently addressed,” the presidential office said.

Meanwhile, the South Korean Unification Ministry on Thursday said that it is pursuing the repatriation of elderly “unconverted long-term” North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) on humanitarian grounds but is not linking the effort to the release of six South Koreans detained in the North.

The ministry clarified that discussions to swap POWs for detained nationals are not under consideration.