Efforts underway to free detainees: Lee

　

　President Lee Myung-bak said yesterday the government was striving to bring back five South Koreans detained in North Korea.

　"The government is making every possible effort to secure the release of the South Korean worker who has been detained incommunicado for 131 days, as well as the four fishermen," Lee was quoted as saying by his spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.

　"We`re fully aware of the public`s concern as these incidents could be directly related to our people`s lives and safety," Lee said. "Please trust the government and look for future progress."

　

　He added that South Korea and the United States worked closely on the release of two female U.S. reporters, stressing that the U.S.-North Korea relationship would progress following a sufficient amount of coordination between South Korea and the United States in the future.

　In a related move, the ruling Grand National Party harshly criticized the North for having a discriminating attitude toward the South compared to the United States.

　"In the case of two American female reporters, they were able to meet with the Swedish ambassador numerous times while they were detained, and they were permitted to call their families, but we`re unable to get hold of (the South Korean worker) Yu, who is held in the North for similar reasons," said GNP deputy floor leader Kim Jung-hoon.

　"We also are unsuccessful in finding out the conditions of the four fishermen. I can`t understand why the North is not granting Miranda rights to its same-blooded people and I feel disdained by the discrimination we`re experiencing," he added.

　Rep. Hwang Jin-ha, a GNP policy coordination committee chief, also said that he could not figure out why North Korea has kept silent about its decision to detain the 44-year-old worker and his current status.

　Earlier on Thursday, the main opposition Democratic Party expressed frustration at North Korea`s double standard toward American and South Korean detainees, showing disappointment that the North, which has emphasized the importance of being one nation, treated South Korea differently.

　North Korea released two U.S. journalists on Wednesday as a result of former U.S. President Bill Clinton`s visit to Pyongyang, but continued to detain the South Korean worker and four fishermen.

　(sharon@heraldm.com)

　

　



By Cho Ji-hyun