N. Korea warns S. Korea not to persecute pro-Pyongyang groups

SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea warned South Korea on Thursday not to
persecute South Korean civic groups that have maintained a conciliatory stance
toward the communist country.
The spokesman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland
said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that if the
conservative government continues to clamp down on people who support
rapprochement with the North, it can lead to grave consequences.
The committee official said that recent moves by courts to classify some
organizations as undermining the legitimacy of South Korea and imprisoning their
leaders are clear signs of the confrontational stance taken by the President Lee
Myung-bak administration.
It added that Seoul has taken overt steps to ignore and undermine the spirit of
the June 15 joint communique reached in 2000.
The communique reached between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il led to almost a decade of warm relations between the
two countries that are technically still at war.
The incumbent administration has called for a review of all past policies
conducted under Kim and Roh Moo-hyun, and stressed that South-North relations can
only improve if Pyongyang gives up its nuclear weapons programs and engages in
constructive dialogue.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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