(2nd LD) N. Korea stops communication on detained S. Korean worker: official

(ATTN: CORRECTS worker's surname in 3rd para)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is evading Seoul's questions about a
detained South Korean worker and refusing to let in daily necessities for him, a
government official said Tuesday, amid speculation he may have been moved to
Pyongyang to stand trial.
The Hyundai Asan Corp. employee, identified only by his surname of Yu, was
detained at a joint industrial park in the North's border town of Kaesong on
March 30 on charges of slandering the North's political system. North Korea has
not allowed direct access to him, but has so far kept South Korea informed about
his health condition and whereabouts.
But there have been changes in the North's attitude, as officials at Kaesong
evaded questions about Yu and refused to allow the delivery of daily necessities
to him, said the South Korean official at the Unification Ministry. The Seoul
government does not know whether or not Yu has been moved to Pyongyang, as a
local newspaper reported Tuesday, he said.
"North Korean officials have not mentioned either officially or unofficially that
they were moving Yu to Pyongyang," the ministry official told reporters on
condition of anonymity.
"But recently, North Korea has been refraining from mentioning Mr. Yu, and the
delivery (of the necessities) has not been done well," the official said.
Yu's reported transfer to Pyongyang added to growing concerns over his safety.
North Korea has neither allowed Seoul's direct access to him nor given word about
how its investigation will proceed. The case is contrary to the way the North has
been handling two detained U.S. journalists, who have been allowed consular
contact and are set to be tried on Thursday.
The journalists from San Francisco-based Current TV -- Korean-American Euna Lee
and Chinese-American Laura Ling -- were arrested near the border with China on
March 17 and were moved to Pyongyang in April to be tried for illegal entry and
hostile acts.
North Korea sent a message to the South on March 30 saying it detained Yu on that
day on charges that he "malignantly slandered the dignified system of our
republic and tried to incite defection" by a female North Korean employee at the
joint park.
North Korea repeated similar accusations on May 1 after its negotiations with
South Korea to set up government-level talks broke down due to agenda
differences. Pyongyang refused to discuss the matter of Yu.
More than 40,000 North Korean workers, mostly women in their 20s and 30s, are
employed at the joint park that hosts over 100 South Korean firms producing
clothes, kitchenware, electronic equipment and other labor-intensive goods.
The two Koreas currently have no government-level dialogue channel to discuss Yu.
Inter-Korean relations have rapidly chilled since conservative President Lee
Myung-bak took office last year, adopting a tough stace on North Korea's nuclear
program and ending unconditional economic aid to the impoverished state.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)