Americans arrested in North Korea like Otto Warmbier, Kenneth Bae, Laura Ling all received major global media attention during their captivity. Years after their abductions, questions about citizens like Megumi Yokota and Hitomi Soga were also a topic of major national interest in Japan.

But for the South Koreans detained in North Korea, silence is the typical response in Seoul, despite markedly-improved relations between the two Koreas since 2018.