The mother, right, of Kim Young-nam, who was abducted by North Korea in 1977, holds hands with the father, left, of Megumi Yokota, a Japanese who was kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s, when she was 13, in Seoul, May 16, 2006. Korea Times file

The unification ministry said Monday it will set up two monuments in hopes of the repatriation of five South Koreans who were abducted by North Korea on two southwestern islands in the 1970s.

North Korean agents kidnapped the five South Korean high school students from the Seonyu and Hong islands between 1977 and 1978, and they have yet to return home.

Among them, Kim Young-nam was married in North Korea to Megumi Yokota, a Japanese kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s, when she was 13. Kim was abducted by the North in August 1977 in areas near Seonyu Island. Yokota is a symbol of the Japanese people abducted by North Korea.

The ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said it will hold a ceremony unveiling the monuments dedicated to those teens on Seonyu Island on Friday and Hong Island on Monday, respectively.

The Friday ceremony will bring together Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho; Julie Turner, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights; and Lee Shin-wha, Seoul's envoy for North Korean human rights.

With the establishment of the monuments, the government hopes to express its strong commitment to resolving the abductee issue and encourage people to join efforts to bring them back home, according to the ministry.

Currently, six South Koreans are being detained in North Korea, including three missionaries — Kim Jung-wook, Choi Chun-gil and Kim Kook-kie — whose whereabouts and fates are unknown.

Separately, 516 South Koreans have yet to return home among an estimated 3,835 people who were kidnapped by North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War, according to government data.

At least 60,000 prisoners of war (POWs) are also estimated to have not come back home or gone missing after being detained in North Korea. A total of 80 POWs have returned home since 1994, but only nine were alive as of March. (Yonhap)