South and North Korea are technically still at war after the Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Hong vowed the government will work to repatriate former POWs who are still in North Korea, while calling for North Korea to actively handle humanitarian issues.

"There are many former war prisoners who are still suffering in North Korea and even the survival of some (former soldiers) has not been confirmed," Hong said. "Whenever I think about those people, I believe that the government should make more efforts to return them home."

The minister pointed out that North Korea should show have a more open mind toward such humanitarian issues regardless of political tensions on the divided peninsula.

"We have difficulty in resolving the issue as North Korea seeks to handle the matter from a political perspective and denies the existence of former war prisoners," he added. "We need to heal the suffering from the division for a peaceful unification."

The government estimated that about 560 South Korean war prisoners are still in North Korea, based on accounts from those who returned home.

A total of 80 South Korean prisoners of war have came back home, out of which 35 are still alive, it said.

"The meeting was aimed at alleviating their suffering and accepting their views about the issue of war prisoners," Jeong Joon-hee, a ministry spokesman, said at a regular press briefing.

"The government will continue to make efforts to relieve pain stemming from the division." (Yonhap)