S. Korean opposition delegation arrives in Pyongyang amid inter-Korean tension

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- A delegation of South Korea's progressive labor party arrived in the North Korean capital Saturday, with hopes of mediating a repair in the frayed relations between the two Koreas, officials said.

The visit by Seoul's Democratic Labor Party (DLP) comes only days after the
communist North threatened to restrict passages across the countries' shared
border, further straining already frozen ties.
Twenty lawmakers and party officials have flown to Pyongyang via China for a
five-day trip to meet their counterparts in North Korea's Social Democratic
Party. The two parties established ties back in 2002.
The two parties will "actively discuss implementation of the two stalled
inter-Korean deals" struck under Seoul's former liberal administrations, DLP
Chairman Kang Ki-kab told reporters before heading off to Pyongyang.
South Korea's Vice Unification Minister Hong Yang-ho asked the opposition party
leader earlier this week to tell North Korea that Seoul has not "completely
turned away" from the deals, in an apparent effort to thaw the icy ties.
Relations between Seoul and Pyongyang have been strained since conservative Lee
Myung-bak took office in late February.
Taking a tougher position toward the nuclear-armed state than his predecessors,
President Lee has made clear on several occasions that his government will not
expand inter-Korean cooperation projects until North Korea abandons all of its
nuclear ambitions.
In its latest hostile move against the Lee government, Pyongyang announced
Wednesday it will partially close the inter-Korean border, which could
effectively suspend operations at a joint industrial complex on the outskirts of
the North Korean town of Kaesong.
The joint industrial site is seen as the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean
reconciliation efforts after tours to North Korea's Mount Geumgang were suspended
in July following a shooting death of a South Korean tourist there.
Liberal parties in Seoul, including the DLP, have been demanding the Lee
government make efforts to implement the two major joint accords, struck in 2000
and 2007, which call for expanded economic cooperation and reunion opportunities
for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
The two Koreas, divided and technically still at war, are both members of the
six-party nuclear disarmament talks, aimed at denuclearizing the North in return
for economic aid.
The DLP, controlling five seats in the 299-member unicameral house, is considered
most pro-Pyongyang among South Korean political parties and has visited the North
Korean capital two more times in the past.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)

Download this as a file