N. Korea proposes talks amid prolonged detention of S. Korean worker

By Sam Kim, Kim Hyun
SEOUL, April 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has proposed talks with South Korea next
week at a joint industrial park in the communist state, where a South Korean
worker remained detained for a 20th day, an official here said Saturday.
The North notified the South earlier this week that it hopes for a meeting next
Tuesday in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, Kim Ho-nyoun, spokesman at
the Ministry of Unification, said.
It was unclear what the North Korean officials overseeing the estate intend to
bring up at the talks with their South Korean counterparts, Kim said, adding
South Korea has yet to decide whether to attend the meeting.
A South Korean worker, only identified by his surname Yoo, has been detained by
North Korean authorities since March 30 over allegations he criticized the
North's political system and tried to encourage a North Korean employee to
defect.
About 100 small garment and labor-intensive South Korean factories operate in the
Kaesong complex -- the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation
efforts over the past decade -- employing 39,000 local workers.
South Korea has been unable to investigate the charges, as the North has
repeatedly snubbed Seoul's requests to meet with the employee of Hyundai Asan, a
unit of Hyundai Group that developed the park.
samkim@yna.co.kr
hkim@yna.co.kr
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