The government has urged the release of South Korean nationals detained in North Korea for the fifth month.
 
Seoul's Unification Ministry issued a written media release on Friday saying it's regrettable that four South Korean nationals, including a permanent U.S. resident, are being held in the North against their will. 
 
The ministry urged North Korean authorities to swiftly release the four South Koreans so they can return to their families. It also called on the North to immediately grant access to their families, South Korean officials and lawyers on humanitarian grounds.
 
Earlier the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported that one detainee held a news conference in Pyongyang where he defended the North Korean regime.