Editor’s note: This article was updated throughout at 1:40 p.m. KST on Dec. 4 to reflect clarification from ROK officials that Seoul is not proposing a prisoner exchange with North Korea.

South Korea is willing to discuss the repatriation of long-time, unconverted North Korean prisoners of war amid efforts to secure the release of ROK nationals held in the DPRK, Seoul’s top security official told NK News on Wednesday, after President Lee Jae Myung indicated he was unaware of the South Korean detainees.

“We aim to make efforts, including consultations with the North, to secure the release of these ROK