SEOUL, June 11 (UPI) -- U.S. and South Korean officials meeting in Seoul said they discussed issues including human rights in North Korea and rights activists detained in China.
Robert King, U. S. special envoy for North Korean human rights and South Korean officials met Monday.
They discussed a "wide range of views" concerning human rights in North Korea as well as the detention of four South Korean activists held in China on accusations of helping North Korean defectors, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.
Reasons for the arrests are unclear but a rights group in Seoul said the four face charges of "endangering" China's national security. The detainees included Kim Young-hwan, an anti-North Korean activist who once led pro-North Korea underground movements in South Korea.
Diplomatic officials said King and South Korean officials also discussed three South Korean women reportedly held in North Korea since 1987, Yonhap said.
King and South Korean officials did not discuss a resumption of food aid to North Korea, a Foreign Ministry official said.
Both sides "reafirmed their existing stance" of considering [food assistance] only if North Korea stops acting provocatively, the official said.
Read More
- North Koreans voice claim over Tok Islands
- South Korea to buy cluster bombs from U.S.
- North Korea video focuses on Kim's mother
- Seoul eyes North Korean air force activity
- Engagement with Pyongyang on U.S. table
- Pyongyang vows revenge against South Korea
- Report of troops spying in N. Korea denied
- N. Korea threatens South Korean media
