SEOUL, June 13 (UPI) -- South Korea's point man for North Korea is being blamed for allowing the continued detention of South Koreans believed to have been abducted by the North.
A group of South Koreans whose relatives were allegedly kidnapped and taken to the North staged a rally Wednesday in front of the government building in central Seoul, calling for Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung to step down, accusing him of harboring pro-communist views.
In a press conference last week, Lee said some of the South Koreans held in the communist North might have crossed the border there voluntarily. Lee is spearheading Seoul's push for reconciliation and cooperation with North Korea despite lingering nuclear threats.
"Lee should immediately step down as he insulted the families of the abductees," the families' association said in a statement. They also gathered to protest in front of Lee's home in southern Seoul.
The South's Red Cross estimates there are 485 South Korean civilians who have been abducted by the North since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The North also has taken 548 South Korean soldiers as prisoners during or after the 1950-53 Korean War, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.
