North Korea has yet to respond to efforts to repatriate two DPRK civilians in South Korean custody, nearly seven weeks after they drifted over the inter-Korean maritime vessel in a wooden boat.

Seoul’s unification minister Kim Yung-ho told lawmakers on Wednesday that the U.N. Command (UNC) has made multiple attempts to contact North Korea about returning the two individuals, who have expressed a desire to go back to the North. 

“We are working closely with the UNC,” Kim told the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. He added that the UNC is currently awaiting a reply from Pyongyang consenting