ID :
33705
Wed, 12/03/2008 - 15:24
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/33705
The shortlink copeid
Seoul blasts Pyongyang for breaching inter-Korean agreements
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday accused North Korea of breaching every existing military agreement between the two Koreas, blaming the communist nation for what is now a nearly defunct relationship between the two.
The accusation comes two days after the communist North virtually shut down the passage through the inter-Korean border, reducing the number of South Koreans allowed to cross it from nearly 10,000 a day to only 1,500.
"North Korea has breached or failed to honor most of agreements reached between
the South and the North in military affairs," the defense ministry told the
special committee of the National Assembly on inter-Korean relations.
The ministry also said North continues to play only a "very passive role" in
improving the inter-Korean relations, claiming the communist nation has only
honored agreements that are beneficial to them.
"Moreover, it has been blatantly violating the 1991 joint declaration on the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula all the while that it was developing
nuclear capabilities and has conducted a nuclear test," the ministry said in a
report released after the start of the committee meeting.
Inter-Korean relations have been on a steep decline since Seoul's Lee Myung-bak
administration was inaugurated in February with a pledge to take a tougher stance
against Pyongyang.
North Korea has since accused the Seoul government of being what it calls a
"puppet government" of the United States and refuses to hold any official
dialogue with the South.
Pyongyang proposed high-level military dialogue in October, but only laid down
threats at that meeting that it will completely halt all cross-border exchanges
unless Seoul immediately prevented the delivery of anti-communist leaflets by
South Korea's civic organizations to its country.
As of Monday, all tours to the North have been suspended while the number of
South Korean workers and officials allowed to stay at a joint industrial park in
the North's border town of Kaesong has been cut by half from some 1,700
previously stationed there.
"The military will restrain itself from any activities that could provoke the
North Korean side, but will closely monitor any signs of unusual activities by the
North if there are any detected," the ministry said.
The two Koreas technically remain at war since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War,
as the war ended only with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday accused North Korea of breaching every existing military agreement between the two Koreas, blaming the communist nation for what is now a nearly defunct relationship between the two.
The accusation comes two days after the communist North virtually shut down the passage through the inter-Korean border, reducing the number of South Koreans allowed to cross it from nearly 10,000 a day to only 1,500.
"North Korea has breached or failed to honor most of agreements reached between
the South and the North in military affairs," the defense ministry told the
special committee of the National Assembly on inter-Korean relations.
The ministry also said North continues to play only a "very passive role" in
improving the inter-Korean relations, claiming the communist nation has only
honored agreements that are beneficial to them.
"Moreover, it has been blatantly violating the 1991 joint declaration on the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula all the while that it was developing
nuclear capabilities and has conducted a nuclear test," the ministry said in a
report released after the start of the committee meeting.
Inter-Korean relations have been on a steep decline since Seoul's Lee Myung-bak
administration was inaugurated in February with a pledge to take a tougher stance
against Pyongyang.
North Korea has since accused the Seoul government of being what it calls a
"puppet government" of the United States and refuses to hold any official
dialogue with the South.
Pyongyang proposed high-level military dialogue in October, but only laid down
threats at that meeting that it will completely halt all cross-border exchanges
unless Seoul immediately prevented the delivery of anti-communist leaflets by
South Korea's civic organizations to its country.
As of Monday, all tours to the North have been suspended while the number of
South Korean workers and officials allowed to stay at a joint industrial park in
the North's border town of Kaesong has been cut by half from some 1,700
previously stationed there.
"The military will restrain itself from any activities that could provoke the
North Korean side, but will closely monitor any signs of unusual activities by the
North if there are any detected," the ministry said.
The two Koreas technically remain at war since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War,
as the war ended only with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
