(LEAD) Clinton asked N. Korea to release S. Korean detainees: Seoul ministry

(ATTN: RESTRUCTURES throughout with Clinton's appeal on Japanese abduction issue,
other details; CHANGES headline)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton pressed North Korea
to free South Koreans it was holding and deal with the issue of Japanese
abductees while in Pyongyang earlier this week to obtain the release of two
American journalists, officials in Seoul and Tokyo said Thursday.

North Korea detained a South Korean worker at the inter-Korean industrial complex
in the North's border town of Kaesong in late March. The 44-year-old, identified
only by his surname Yoo, was arrested on charges of criticizing its political
system and attempting to persuade a North Korean woman to defect to the South.
The North has refused to allow him to contact his families and officials in South
Korea.
Pyongyang also has in custody four crew members of a fishing boat, "800 Yeonan,"
which strayed across the maritime border in the East Sea last week.
"Former U.S. President Clinton demanded that the detained South Korean worker in
Kaesong and the crew members of Yeonan be freed on humanitarian grounds," South
Korean foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said at a press briefing, citing
information from the U.S. State Department.
The spokesman would not elaborate on whether the South Korean government had
asked Clinton to make the appeal.
"He went to North Korea well aware of the issue," Moon only said, adding that no
information had been made available on Pyongyang's response.
Clinton returned to the U.S. on Wednesday, after a 20-hour stay in the North
Korean capital, with the two journalists -- Laura Ling and Euna Lee -- who had
been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for "illegal entry" into the North and
unspecified "hostile acts." Clinton met for several hours with the North's leader
Kim Jong-il, whose words are regarded as law in the communist nation.
The spokesman also said the State Department delivered a message of gratitude to
the South Korean government through diplomatic channels for supporting Clinton's
trip to the North.
He dismissed worries that Clinton's visit may reinforce what appears to be
Pyongyang's strategy of circumventing Seoul to talk directly and only with
Washington.
"The U.S. reaffirmed that his (Clinton's) visit to North Korea this time was a
private and humanitarian mission for the release of the reporters," Moon said.
Asked about the prospects for the six-way nuclear talks, he said, "We need to see
the development of the related situation. Our stance is that North Korea should
quickly return to the six-party talks."
The multilateral forum, charged with negotiating the denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula, involves South and North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and
Japan.
In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Clinton called on North
Korea to take measures to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by
the North Korean authorities decades ago. Tokyo suspects Pyongyang of abducting
17 Japanese citizens, using them to train North Korean spies to pose as Japanese.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)