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North Korea released a South Korean citizen detained in July after crossing the border into the North, the South's Unification Ministry said on Tuesday.
The prisoner was a 34-year-old man surnamed Seo who was detained after "illegally" entering North Korea last month, the ministry said.
South Korean officials have pressed for the return of six other South Koreans believed to have been held for years in North Korea, and the Unification Ministry said they believed Seo's release is a positive sign.
In May, North Korea released three American prisoners in a gesture seen as clearing the way for June's summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
North Korea's foreign minister said on Saturday he was increasingly alarmed by U.S. attitudes towards the isolated state but said it remained firm in its determination to implement the nuclear deal it reached with Washington in June.The United States and North Korea pledged to end the North's nuclear programme and establish peace on the Korean peninsula in the landmark June agreement reached by their leaders in Singapore.North Korea has not stopped nuclear, missile program: confidential UN report"The DPRK stands firm in its determination and commitment for implementing the DPRK-U.S. Joint Statement in a responsible and good-faith manner," said Ri Yong Ho, referring to his country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."What is alarming however is the insistent moves manifested within the U.S. to go back to the old, far from its leader's intention."US Secretary of State Pompeo, N Korea minister Ri shake handsU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pressed Southeast Asian nations at regional meetings in Singapore this week to maintain sanctions on North Korea but said he was optimistic that the deal to end the North's nuclear programme would be implemented."We have initiated goodwill measures of, inter alia, a moratorium on nuclear tests and rocket launch tests and dismantling of nuclear test ground," Ri said in a statement delivered to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) forum."However, the United States, instead of responding to these measures, is raising its voice louder for maintaining the sanctions against the DPRK and showing the attitude to retreat even from declaring the end of the war, a very basic and primary step for providing peace on the Korean peninsula."North Korea, backed by China, fought the South and U.S.-led U.N. forces in the 1950-53 Korean War which ended in a mere truce, not a peace treaty.Video: US Secretary of State Pompeo, N Korea minister Ri shake hands
North Korea alarmed by US attitudes but committed to nuclear deal
After the Americans were released, the United Nations human rights investigator on North Korea, Tomas Ojea Quintana, issued a statement calling for the South Koreans to also be freed.
Among them are Christian missionaries Kim Jung-wook, who was arrested in October 2013, and Kim Kook-kie and Choi Chun-kil, who have been held since 2014, the ministry said.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho shook hands and exchanged words and smiles at a Southeast Asian security forum on Saturday in Singapore.Pompeo said before the brief encounter during a group photo session at the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) regional forum that he had not held talks with Ri during his visit to Singapore.Video: US Secretary of State Pompeo, N Korea minister Ri shake handsPompeo, who has been leading the U.S. negotiating in efforts to get North Korea to denuclearise, said earlier the process of ending the North's nuclear programme would take time but that he was optimistic that it would happen.
US Secretary of State Pompeo, N Korea minister Ri shake hands
The other three are North Korean defectors who South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said last year were “captured” by the North without specifying where and why.