Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho has met with a senior U.S. official to discuss bilateral cooperation in efforts to improve human rights in North Korea and resolve the issue of abductees, detainees and prisoners of war in the North. 

The unification ministry said Kim met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell at the State Department in Washington D.C. on Monday. They exchanged opinions on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues regarding policies on North Korea and reunification.

The ministry said Kim asked for Washington's support for efforts to repatriate six South Koreans detained in North Korea and the two sides shared concerns about deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. 

Kim also called for Washington's attention and support for Seoul's ongoing efforts to craft a new discourse for national reunification that focuses on freedom and prosperity for all the people of the two Koreas.

Two North Korean defectors joined the officials near the end of the meeting to further explain the situation in North Korea to Campbell.