SEOUL — South Korea is not considering sending envoys or making an offer to North Korea in exchange for the release of Christian missionaries detained by the North on espionage allegations, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Monday.

"The undue detainment of three of our citizens by North Korea is an unlawful and unjust behavior," ministry spokesperson Lim Byong-cheol said in a press conference. "They ought to release and repatriate our citizens without condition. I think that it is undesirable for the government to offer something in return to their release."