Clinton asks for others to be freed

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- In the wake of his success with American journalists, former U.S. President Bill Clinton pressed North Korea to free others, officials in Seoul said Thursday.

Clinton spoke to North Korea about freeing a South Korean detained in March and to deal with the decades-long issue of Japanese abductees, the Yonhap news service reported.

The South Korean was identified only by his surname, Yoo, and age, 44. He was charged at the inter-Korean industrial complex in the border town of Kaesong with criticizing the North's political system and trying to persuade a North Korean to defect.

While in Pyongyang, Clinton also spoke on behalf of four crew members of a fishing boat which strayed across the maritime border in the East Sea, the U.S. State Department said.

In addition, speaking from Tokyo, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Clinton called on North Korea to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by the North Korean authorities decades ago. He said Tokyo suspects Pyongyang of abducting 17 Japanese citizens and using them to train North Korean spies to pose as Japanese.