The United Nations has deemed the prolonged detention of South Korean missionaries by North Korea as unlawful arbitrary detention and called for their immediate release.
The UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted an opinion on the 13th, local time, stating that the deprivation of liberty of missionaries Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kuk-gi, and Choi Chun-gil by North Korea constitutes arbitrary detention.
In its opinion, the Working Group urged the immediate release of the missionaries, along with compensation, reparations, an independent investigation, and appropriate measures against those who violated their rights.
This opinion is a response to a petition filed by the families of the detained missionaries last July, which requested the Working Group to determine whether their prolonged detention amounted to arbitrary detention.
In relation to this, the Ministry of Unification released a spokesperson’s statement today, asserting that the detainment by North Korea is a clear illegal act, which the international community has officially acknowledged, and urged North Korea to release the South Korean citizens immediately and unconditionally.
Missionary Kim Jung-wook, who was based in Dandong, China, and engaged in humanitarian and missionary activities for defectors, was arrested by North Korean authorities in October 2013 and sentenced to life in a labor camp.
Similarly, missionaries Kim Kuk-gi and Choi Chun-gil, who were also active mainly in Dandong, were arrested in October and December of 2014, respectively, and were sentenced to life in labor camps the following year.