S. Korean Civic Groups Resume Visits to N. Korea After Tourist's Death

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea began allowing liberal civic groups to resume sending large-scale delegations to North Korea some two months after the shooting death of a South Korean tourist in the North, amid worsening ties with Pyongyang and increasing uncertainty over the health of the North's leader and his state's nuclear ambitions.

On Sept. 20, two progressive South Korean organizations left for Pyongyang with
approval from their government, marking the first visit by a non-relief group
since a South Korean woman was shot dead by a North Korean soldier in early July.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the more militant of the
country's two umbrella labor groups, said a 13-member delegation left for a
five-day visit to Pyongyang on Sept. 20.
On Sept. 22, a 96-member delegation of the Catholic Priests' Association for
Justice flew into Pyongyang to hold a special mass.
Seoul had halted tours to the North Korean resort of Mt. Kumgang, just north of
the DMZ, in response to the killing of Park Wang-ja, 53, and has been
discouraging non-charity groups from traveling to North Korea for inter-Korean
exchange programs. The two groups' previous requests for government approval were
turned down amid chilly ties between the two Koreas.
The KCTU delegates, all public transportation workers, held talks with their
counterparts from the North's General Federation of Trade Unions on ways to
enhance cooperation between the two Koreas' workers, Woo Mun-sook, spokeswoman
for the KCTU, told Yonhap News Agency. They were set to also go sightseeing at
Mount Myohyang in North Pyongan Province, Woo said.
During their five-day stay ending Sept. 26, the delegation of Catholic priests
was scheduled to visit Mount Myohyang and Mount Paektu, near the North's border
with China, the association said.
The visits came after Seoul allowed the Korean Sharing Movement, a Seoul-based
charity group, to send a 136-member delegation on Sept. 20 for a four-day visit
to Pyongyang and Mount Paektu.
On Sept. 20, a large-scale South Korean civic delegation flew to North Korea on a
trip to monitor aid distribution, officials said. North Korea allowed the
four-day trip by the 136-member delegation from Korean Sharing Movement at a
sensitive time, as the international community is on alert over Kim's health amid
a stalemate in the six-party efforts to denuclearize the socialist country.
The South Koreans, including about a dozen journalists, left Seoul on a chartered
flight, Unification Ministry officials said. "The government basically is
positive to North Korea visits by civic groups engaging in humanitarian aid, and
will be so in the future," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said on
Sept. 19, announcing the delegation's trip.
Officials said the South Koreans were to attend a ceremony to mark the completion
of a medical center and other related facilities that their aid group helped to
build in Pyongyang. Their itinerary also included plans to monitor the
distribution of aid materials and a visit to Mount Paektu.
Another group of 15 activists, advocates of the inter-Korean summit agreement of
2000, left for Pyongyang on Sept. 23 with permission from Seoul. They were to
discuss ways to enhance exchanges with their northern counterparts in Pyongyang,
officials said.
Analysts say the recent decision to allow visits to the North come as Seoul
apparently feels the need to prevent ties with Pyongyang from worsening.
"The government appears to be taking into account that if inter-Korean relations
deteriorate further, that will only provide cause for North Korea to arm itself
with nuclear weapons," a North Korea expert said, requesting anonymity. "Seoul
currently has no leverage in resolving the nuclear crisis due to worsening ties
with North Korea," the expert said.
In a related move, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Sept. 22 again urged
Pyongyang to resume reconciliatory talks, saying he respects the spirit of all
inter-Korean agreements, including the two summit accords.
Lee's remark, made during a presidential panel meeting on reunification policy,
is seen as a further softening of his initial position toward Pyongyang's demand
that he respect and implement the two accords.
Relations have chilled since Lee took office in late February, vowing to take a
tougher stance toward Pyongyang over its human rights record and its nuclear
activities, among other issues. The death of the South Korean tourist also
increased tensions.
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said the government will positively
consider future requests by additional groups to visit North Korea. Eight more
groups hope to send delegations of around 100 members each, he said