Six elderly men from North Korea who served decades in prison have now been released.
Incarcerated for spying against South Korea, in favor of their communist convictions, the six octogenarians and nonagenarians have requested release.
95-year-old Ahn Hak-sop was arrested in the Korean War and spent over 40 years in jail.
A civic group representing the six men said it had asked the government to allow them to be sent to the North, saying that their wishes must be respected under the Geneva Convention, as they are considered prisoners of war.
The ministry of inter-Korean affairs is looking for a way to offer repatriation, but this suggests there is no known or clear feedback from North Korea.
In 2000, South Korea repatriated 63 “unconverted” former prisoners. No other such event has taken place since.
North and South Korea remain frozen in an eternal state of war against each other, the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
South Korea’s newly elected president, Lee Jae-myung, has promised he will make the best of the situation by improving dialogue with North Korea in order to “build military trust”.
He removed propaganda loudspeakers along the border, which North Korea have always detested.
But North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, has coldly declared in response that North Korea has “no will to improve relations”.
