ID :
37382
Thu, 12/25/2008 - 13:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/37382
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North Korea-weekly review-4
*** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS
South Korea Sets Aside More Budget for Inter-Korean Programs
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korean lawmakers on Dec. 14 earmarked more budget for
supporting inter-Korean cooperation programs for next year, despite heightened
tension with North Korea.
Lawmakers approved a government bill using about 1.59 trillion won (US$1.18
billion) from the civilian-government fund to support inter-Korean cooperation
projects next year, up 8.6 percent from roughly 1.4 trillion won this year.
The increase reflects the government's intent to improve relations with
Pyongyang, despite the current stalemate.
Notably, Seoul set aside 643.7 billion won to provide 400,000 tons of rice and
300,000 tons of fertilizer aid to North Korea.
Inter-Korean relations worsened after conservative South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak took office in late February and pledged to link non-humanitarian aid
to the North's nuclear disarmament.
Lee later softened his position and has since repeatedly offered to resume
reconciliation dialogue. Pyongyang, however, spurned the offers and did not
request the annual shipment of humanitarian aid from the South this year.
Tension has grown further since Pyongyang suspended almost all cross-border
programs, including a regular cargo train service and the sightseeing tour to the
ancient North Korean city of Kaesong in protest of what it calls Seoul's
"confrontational" policy toward Pyongyang.
"The government's contribution to the fund was scaled back from 650 billion won
to 350 billion won in next year's budget, but the government decided to make up
for the shortage with the unspent budget for this year," a Unification Ministry
official said, requesting anonymity.
With no humanitarian aid delivered to the North this year, the government had
spent only 15 percent of the year's budget by the end of November.
Since the fund was created in 1991, Seoul has used 8.2 trillion won out of a
total of 9.3 trillion won worth of government and civilian donations over the
past 18 years, according to the "2008 White Paper on Inter-Korean Cooperation
Fund" published by the ministry on Dec. 15.
------------------------
Inter-Korean Trade Falls for Second Straight Month
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Trade between South and North Korea decreased for the second
consecutive month due to the economic downturn and frozen cross-border relations,
the Unification Ministry said Dec. 20.
Inter-Korean trade volume fell 27.7 percent in November from the previous year to
US$142.72 million, according to ministry data posted on its Web site.
"Payments to North Korea are mostly made in dollars or euros, so the weak Korean
currency has been the primary reason for the falling trade," a ministry official
said.
More than 80 South Korean firms produce watches, shoes, clothes and kitchenware
at a joint industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong. North Korea
also exports sand to the South.
In October, South and North Korea traded goods and services worth $163.06
million, down 23.2 percent from a year earlier.
Inter-Korean trade volume for December is expected to drop further after North
Korea curtailed business operations in the Kaesong complex in retaliation against
Seoul's hard-line policy toward it. The number of South Koreans allowed to stay
in Kaesong was cut in half as of Dec. 1. The North also suspended tours to its
Mount Kumgang resort and curtailed border traffic.
Meanwhile, inter-Korean trade from January to November reached $1.69 billion, an
increase of 3.7 percent from the same period in 2007.
------------------------
N. Korean Defectors to Receive Longer Resettlement Training in the South
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Koreans defecting to the South will undergo a 12-week
rehabilitation program beginning in March, officials said Dec. 22.
Currently, the South Korean government requires those starting a new life here to
participate in an eight-week program at the Hanawon resettlement center in
Anseong, about 70 km south of Seoul.
"The extension of the period is to give adequate education," a Unification
Ministry official said. "It will go into effect around March after related
preparations."
The government is also in consultations with experts to update the curriculum in
the center, he added.
Earlier this month, the ministry completed the remodeling of Hanawon, doubling
its housing capacity to 600.
More than 14,000 North Korean refugees have entered South Korea since the end of
the Korean War in 1953.
(END)
South Korea Sets Aside More Budget for Inter-Korean Programs
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korean lawmakers on Dec. 14 earmarked more budget for
supporting inter-Korean cooperation programs for next year, despite heightened
tension with North Korea.
Lawmakers approved a government bill using about 1.59 trillion won (US$1.18
billion) from the civilian-government fund to support inter-Korean cooperation
projects next year, up 8.6 percent from roughly 1.4 trillion won this year.
The increase reflects the government's intent to improve relations with
Pyongyang, despite the current stalemate.
Notably, Seoul set aside 643.7 billion won to provide 400,000 tons of rice and
300,000 tons of fertilizer aid to North Korea.
Inter-Korean relations worsened after conservative South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak took office in late February and pledged to link non-humanitarian aid
to the North's nuclear disarmament.
Lee later softened his position and has since repeatedly offered to resume
reconciliation dialogue. Pyongyang, however, spurned the offers and did not
request the annual shipment of humanitarian aid from the South this year.
Tension has grown further since Pyongyang suspended almost all cross-border
programs, including a regular cargo train service and the sightseeing tour to the
ancient North Korean city of Kaesong in protest of what it calls Seoul's
"confrontational" policy toward Pyongyang.
"The government's contribution to the fund was scaled back from 650 billion won
to 350 billion won in next year's budget, but the government decided to make up
for the shortage with the unspent budget for this year," a Unification Ministry
official said, requesting anonymity.
With no humanitarian aid delivered to the North this year, the government had
spent only 15 percent of the year's budget by the end of November.
Since the fund was created in 1991, Seoul has used 8.2 trillion won out of a
total of 9.3 trillion won worth of government and civilian donations over the
past 18 years, according to the "2008 White Paper on Inter-Korean Cooperation
Fund" published by the ministry on Dec. 15.
------------------------
Inter-Korean Trade Falls for Second Straight Month
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Trade between South and North Korea decreased for the second
consecutive month due to the economic downturn and frozen cross-border relations,
the Unification Ministry said Dec. 20.
Inter-Korean trade volume fell 27.7 percent in November from the previous year to
US$142.72 million, according to ministry data posted on its Web site.
"Payments to North Korea are mostly made in dollars or euros, so the weak Korean
currency has been the primary reason for the falling trade," a ministry official
said.
More than 80 South Korean firms produce watches, shoes, clothes and kitchenware
at a joint industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong. North Korea
also exports sand to the South.
In October, South and North Korea traded goods and services worth $163.06
million, down 23.2 percent from a year earlier.
Inter-Korean trade volume for December is expected to drop further after North
Korea curtailed business operations in the Kaesong complex in retaliation against
Seoul's hard-line policy toward it. The number of South Koreans allowed to stay
in Kaesong was cut in half as of Dec. 1. The North also suspended tours to its
Mount Kumgang resort and curtailed border traffic.
Meanwhile, inter-Korean trade from January to November reached $1.69 billion, an
increase of 3.7 percent from the same period in 2007.
------------------------
N. Korean Defectors to Receive Longer Resettlement Training in the South
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Koreans defecting to the South will undergo a 12-week
rehabilitation program beginning in March, officials said Dec. 22.
Currently, the South Korean government requires those starting a new life here to
participate in an eight-week program at the Hanawon resettlement center in
Anseong, about 70 km south of Seoul.
"The extension of the period is to give adequate education," a Unification
Ministry official said. "It will go into effect around March after related
preparations."
The government is also in consultations with experts to update the curriculum in
the center, he added.
Earlier this month, the ministry completed the remodeling of Hanawon, doubling
its housing capacity to 600.
More than 14,000 North Korean refugees have entered South Korea since the end of
the Korean War in 1953.
(END)
