ID :
37116
Tue, 12/23/2008 - 14:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/37116
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea accuses South's unification minister of destroying ties
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea hurled a biting criticism on Tuesday at South Korea's unification minister visiting China, calling him a "lunatic" who destroys inter-Korean relations with confrontational policies.
Kim Ha-joong, Seoul's chief policymaker on inter-Korean affairs, is now in
Beijing meeting with senior Chinese officials to discuss North Korean issues.
"The hooligans of Lee Myung-bak are with no exception confrontational fanatics
with their bones filled up with hostility against their brethren. 'Unification
Minister' Kim Ha-joong is their leader," Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper run by the
North's Workers' Party, said in a commentary.
The accusation was the latest from the North, which has recently intensified
anti-Seoul criticism. The North has vowed not to reopen inter-Korean dialogue
unless Seoul revamps its hardline stance.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak suspended food aid to Pyongyang this year,
demanding the North abandon its nuclear programs and return South Koreans
allegedly being detained in the North.
North Korea retaliated by evicting hundreds of South Koreans from a joint
industrial complex in its border town of Kaesong on Dec. 1. It also curtailed
border traffic and halted South Korean tours to a popular mountain resort.
"The surroundings of the traitor Lee Myung-bak are crowded with lunatics mad for
blood and extreme hostility toward their own brethren," the newspaper said.
The report criticized Kim for not attending the first anniversary ceremony of the
2007 inter-Korean summit in early October and for not actively stopping North
Korean defectors in South Korea from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the
border.
"The North is passing the responsibility to us, but the North has taken a series
of actions that have strained inter-Korean relations," Kim Ho-nyoun, spokesman for
the Unification Ministry, told reporters.
The minister met with Dai Bingguo, China's state councilor, and Chinese vice
foreign minister and chief envoy to the six-party nuclear disarmament talks, Wu
Dawei, and planned to meet other top officials including Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi before returning Seoul on Wednesday. He served as Seoul's envoy to Beijing
for more than six years before taking the Cabinet post with the Lee government.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
Kim Ha-joong, Seoul's chief policymaker on inter-Korean affairs, is now in
Beijing meeting with senior Chinese officials to discuss North Korean issues.
"The hooligans of Lee Myung-bak are with no exception confrontational fanatics
with their bones filled up with hostility against their brethren. 'Unification
Minister' Kim Ha-joong is their leader," Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper run by the
North's Workers' Party, said in a commentary.
The accusation was the latest from the North, which has recently intensified
anti-Seoul criticism. The North has vowed not to reopen inter-Korean dialogue
unless Seoul revamps its hardline stance.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak suspended food aid to Pyongyang this year,
demanding the North abandon its nuclear programs and return South Koreans
allegedly being detained in the North.
North Korea retaliated by evicting hundreds of South Koreans from a joint
industrial complex in its border town of Kaesong on Dec. 1. It also curtailed
border traffic and halted South Korean tours to a popular mountain resort.
"The surroundings of the traitor Lee Myung-bak are crowded with lunatics mad for
blood and extreme hostility toward their own brethren," the newspaper said.
The report criticized Kim for not attending the first anniversary ceremony of the
2007 inter-Korean summit in early October and for not actively stopping North
Korean defectors in South Korea from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the
border.
"The North is passing the responsibility to us, but the North has taken a series
of actions that have strained inter-Korean relations," Kim Ho-nyoun, spokesman for
the Unification Ministry, told reporters.
The minister met with Dai Bingguo, China's state councilor, and Chinese vice
foreign minister and chief envoy to the six-party nuclear disarmament talks, Wu
Dawei, and planned to meet other top officials including Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi before returning Seoul on Wednesday. He served as Seoul's envoy to Beijing
for more than six years before taking the Cabinet post with the Lee government.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
