The head of the Association for Family Members of the KAL Kidnapping Victims, Hwang In Cheol believes that following North Korea’s response to calls for information on the whereabouts of Shin Suk Ja, “They must send an official response to us, too.”

Speaking to Daily NK on the 14th, Hwang pointed out, “On the 8th, North Korea sent a written response to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention containing news of Dr. Oh Gil Nam’s wife’s death and the feelings of their daughters.”

Conversely, in June 2010 the association submitted the case of a Korean Air YS-11 that disappeared shortly after takeoff from Gangreung in 1969 to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, but the North has never replie despite the UN making formal, twice yearly calls for information.

“North Korea should send a written response to our request in accordance with international custom,” Hwang emphasized.