South Korea calls for immediate release of three missionaries detained in North Korea following UN report

The ministry issued the call a day after the UN Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted opinions calling for North Korea to release the three South Korean Christian missionaries.

The three -- Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kook-kie and Choi Chun-gil -- have been detained in North Korea since their arrest between 2013-14 on charges of spying for South Korea's intelligence agency.

In the opinions adopted on Thursday, the UN working group concluded that the arrest and detention of the three constitute an illegal and arbitrary deprivation of their freedom, calling for their immediate release as well as reparations for and an independent investigation into their cases, Yonhap news agency reported.

"The opinions adopted by the UN working group officially confirmed that the detention of these individuals was illegal and clearly violates international law," according to the statement issued in the name of the unification ministry spokesperson, Koo Byoung-sam.

"The government once again strongly denounces North Korea's illegal act and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of our nationals," it said.

The statement also urged North Korea to seriously heed the warning issued by the UN adoption of such opinions, calling for its immediate compliance.

The government will do its utmost in cooperation with other countries, the international community and religious circles for the immediate resolution of the issue, it added.

The South Korean Ministry of Unification (MOU), established in 1969, is responsible for promoting Korean reunification, handling inter-Korean relations, and managing North Korean defectors, including humanitarian assistance and settlement support.

The Ministry of Unification is a government body responsible for all issues on inter-Korean relations. The ministry's existence reflects the unique reality of the Korean peninsula, which has remained divided since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The Ministry has four primary objectives: inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation, humanitarian assistance, settlement support for North Korean defectors to South Korea, and human rights.