Gov't to make every effort to seek release of S. Korean detainees in N. Korea: minister

SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said Friday the government will mobilize all available means to win the release of South Korean detainees in North Korea.

Kwon was speaking at a meeting with family members of two of the six detainees who have been held in the North since 2013. The rare session was arranged to explain the government's commitment to resolving the long-running issue.

"The government will do its best to win the release of the six detainees by mobilizing all available means," Kwon said.

He said frosty inter-Korean ties would be a major hindrance in resolving the issue, but the government will make its upmost efforts to protect its nationals.

Currently, six South Koreans, including three pastors, are being detained in North Korea on charges of committing what Pyongyang called anti-North Korea crimes.

Of them, three South Korean pastors -- Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kuk-gi and Choe Chun-gil -- were sentenced to hard labor for life on charges of spying for South Korea's intelligence agency. The other three detainees are known to be North Korean defectors.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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