TOKYO (Sputnik) — "The government wishes to express its regret that North Korea does not give any response to our repeated demands for the release and return [of four South Korean citizens]," the ministry said.
According to the statement, the South Korean Unification Ministry on Friday morning requested the release of South Korean nationals Kim Jeong-uk, Kim Kuk-gi, Choe Chun-gil and Won Moon Joo, detained in North Korea on espionage charges. Pyongyang, however, has not confirmed that it had received the Seoul's notice.
Seoul said it has repeatedly demanded the immediate release of South Korean nationals.
Two of the detained South Korean nationals, Kim Kuk-gi and Choe Chun-gil, detained for espionage last year, earlier admitted to CNN that they had been spying for the South Korean National Intelligence Service. The intelligence agency, however, has rejected the claims.
The two Koreas are formally in a state of war, as no peace treaty was signed after the Korean War of 1950-1953.
