The Unification Ministry says 21 South Korean prisoners of war and abductees are alive in North Korea.

The ministry on Tuesday said Pyongyang answered a Seoul request on determining the fate and whereabouts of 52 South Korean POWs and 51 abductees by saying ten POWs and eleven abductees are alive.

The North said ten POWs and six abductees were dead, however.

The ministry said all but one of those confirmed alive in the North have reunited with their families in previous reunions.

The Korea National Red Cross in Seoul believes 546 South Korean POWs and 485 abductees are alive in the North based on testimony from North Korean defectors.