ID :
32253
Tue, 11/25/2008 - 17:17
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/32253
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean activists to continue scattering anti-Pyongyang flyers
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korean activists said Tuesday they will continue sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into North Korea, a day after the communist neighbor announced a slew of retaliatory measures against the South's "confrontational" activities.
North Korea announced on Monday that effective Dec. 1 it will suspend tours to
the North Korean border city of Kaesong and halt a cross-border rail service. It
also plans to bar South Koreans coming to the North for business purposes,
excluding those related to a joint industrial complex in Kaesong.
"We at one point had decided to suspend our activities of sending leaflets for
the time being but reversed the decision after the North's announcement," Park
Sang-hak, head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, a Seoul-based group of North
Korean defectors, told reporters.
"We will continue to distribute leaflets unless the North apologizes for the
death of Park Wang-ja, stops slamming the (South Korean) president and sending
defectors to prison camps for political crimes," he said.
Park Wang-ja, a South Korean woman, was fatally shot by North Korean soldiers in
July while staying at a resort at Mount Geumgang, which lies just north of the
heavily armed inter-Korean border. Pyongyang has refused to apologize for the
incident and rejected Seoul's demand for joint probe into the death.
Park Sang-hak also said the North must begin efforts to locate the whereabouts of
prisoners of war, release abducted civilians and resume reunions for separated
families before his group stops leafleting.
The news conference was also attended by Choi Song-ryong, head of an association
of families of those kidnapped by North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War. His
group recently joined Park's four-year-long leafleting campaign.
The two groups said they would begin floating balloons carrying more leaflets
than ever before if the North follows through with its threat to close the
border.
"We plan to send a total of 21 million leaflets, one for every person in North
Korea, with assistance from the South Korean public," Choi said.
Pyongyang has threatened to cut all ties with South Korea unless it stops the
South Korean civic groups from floating the leaflets, which are critical of North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Inter-Korean relations have chilled since South Korea's conservative President
Lee Myung-bak took office in February and vowed to get tough with Pyongyang.
sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)
North Korea announced on Monday that effective Dec. 1 it will suspend tours to
the North Korean border city of Kaesong and halt a cross-border rail service. It
also plans to bar South Koreans coming to the North for business purposes,
excluding those related to a joint industrial complex in Kaesong.
"We at one point had decided to suspend our activities of sending leaflets for
the time being but reversed the decision after the North's announcement," Park
Sang-hak, head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, a Seoul-based group of North
Korean defectors, told reporters.
"We will continue to distribute leaflets unless the North apologizes for the
death of Park Wang-ja, stops slamming the (South Korean) president and sending
defectors to prison camps for political crimes," he said.
Park Wang-ja, a South Korean woman, was fatally shot by North Korean soldiers in
July while staying at a resort at Mount Geumgang, which lies just north of the
heavily armed inter-Korean border. Pyongyang has refused to apologize for the
incident and rejected Seoul's demand for joint probe into the death.
Park Sang-hak also said the North must begin efforts to locate the whereabouts of
prisoners of war, release abducted civilians and resume reunions for separated
families before his group stops leafleting.
The news conference was also attended by Choi Song-ryong, head of an association
of families of those kidnapped by North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War. His
group recently joined Park's four-year-long leafleting campaign.
The two groups said they would begin floating balloons carrying more leaflets
than ever before if the North follows through with its threat to close the
border.
"We plan to send a total of 21 million leaflets, one for every person in North
Korea, with assistance from the South Korean public," Choi said.
Pyongyang has threatened to cut all ties with South Korea unless it stops the
South Korean civic groups from floating the leaflets, which are critical of North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Inter-Korean relations have chilled since South Korea's conservative President
Lee Myung-bak took office in February and vowed to get tough with Pyongyang.
sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)
