Opposition lawmakers to visit N. Korea

SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- A group of opposition Democratic Party lawmakers and their aides will visit the inter-Korean joint industrial complex in Kaesong, a North Korean border city, this week, officials said Tuesday.

"North Korea invited all 150 members to visit the country," Kim Ho-nyoun,
spokesman for the Unification Ministry, told reporters.
The group, including its chairman Chung Sye-kyun, plans to make a one-day trip to
Kaesong Thursday, party officials said.
They said the trip is timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the second
inter-Korean summit between leaders of the two Koreas, at which then South Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed to work closely
to end military hostilities across the border and revitalize inter-Korean
cooperation programs.
Many of the agreements, however, have been unfulfilled as relations strained
after the launch of the conservative and pro-U.S. South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak in February.
At present, over 32,000 North Koreans work for 79 South Korean manufacturing
plants at the Kaesong complex, a legacy of the previous South Korean liberal
governments' engagement policy towards the North.
sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)