by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
North Korea will release two South Koreans who were accused of illegally entering the country last May, according to Yonhap News Agency.
On Monday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said North Korea announced via fax message that they will return a 59-year-old man, identified by his surname Lee, and a 51-year-old woman, surnamed Jin, to the truce village of Panmunjom on the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
The ministry agreed to Pyongyang’s proposal.
Seoul said the two South Korean nationals went missing together near the North Korea-China border during their trip to China. North Korea claimed that the travelers illegally crossed its border on May 11.
In a press release, the unification ministry said the two South Korean returnees will be inspected for health conditions upon arrival on Wednesday and later questioned for their reasons behind entering the North.
Meanwhile, North Korea has yet to respond to Seoul’s request for the release of four other South Koreans, including a New York University student.
Won-moon Joo, a 21-year-old business school student with permanent residency in the U.S., was arrested on April 22 after crossing the Amnok River from the Chinese town of Dandong, according to North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA.
North Korea is also currently detaining two South Korean nationals, Kim Jung-wook and Choe Chun-gil, for alleged espionage.
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Featured image by Henrik Ishihara/ Wikimedia Commons
