Choi Jin-young, son of missionary Choi Chun-gil who has been detained in North Korea for over a decade, met with officials from the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He delivered a letter requesting they raise the issue of freeing detained South Korean missionaries if a North Korea-U.S. summit takes place.
The North Korean Detained Citizens Family Association (ROKHFA) reported that on Tuesday, Choi and Shin Hee-seok, a legal analyst with the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), met in Seoul with Belcis Romero from the White House Office, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Riley Barnes, and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie Turner.
During the meeting, Choi asked them to convey a letter to President Donald Trump requesting the release of missionaries detained in North Korea. He also presented a joint statement document, titled, Global Petition for the Release of Three South Korean Missionaries, organized by Korean churches in Los Angeles, spearheaded by missionary Kim Hak-song, which included 10,000 online and offline signatures.
The letter referenced President Trump’s successful negotiation for the release of Korean-American missionaries Kim Dong-chul, Kim Sang-duk, and Kim Hak-song, who were detained in North Korea in 2018. It also mentioned the recent request made during the North Korea-U.S. summit in Beijing for the release of underground church pastor Kim Myung-il (Ezra Jin), a Chinese national of Korean descent, detained by Chinese authorities late last year.
Furthermore, the letter urged President Trump to directly raise the issue of releasing three long-detained South Korean missionaries—Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kuk-ki, and Choi Chun-gil—with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if a future summit occurs.
Participants also requested that U.S. officials continue to meet with the families of South Korean abductees and detainees. Such meetings would signal to North Korea that the U.S. remains concerned about the issues of detained missionaries and abductees.
The South Korean government currently recognizes that seven of its citizens, including three missionaries, remain detained or are residing in North Korea. The meeting reportedly included extensive discussions on diplomatic and international strategies to secure the release of the three detained South Korean missionaries.
In this context, attendees also requested that officials from the U.S. Embassy in South Korea participate in the upcoming event commemorating the abductees of the Korean War on June 25.
Previously, families of the detained missionaries formed the North Korean Detained Citizens Family Association to raise public awareness and held an international conference at Yonsei University on May 21. During that event, Assistant Secretary Barnes delivered a video message urging the release of the three missionaries and other South Koreans detained in North Korea.