ID :
75254
Fri, 08/14/2009 - 14:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/75254
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(LEAD) Cheong Wa Dae vows not to change N. Korea policy despite worker's release
(ATTN: UPDATES with reaction from political parties at bottom)
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will not change its North Korea policy
despite the North's release Thursday of a South Korean worker after nearly 140
days of detention, the presidential office said, suggesting the chill between the
divided Koreas will continue at least for some time.
"It seems a bit too late, but it is a relief that Yu is finally returning to his
family," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said, referring to the detained
worker who was seized in late March at a joint industrial park in the North's
border town of Kaesong.
The North accused the Hyundai Asan worker of slandering its political system and
trying to incite defection by a female North Korean worker at Kaesong.
His release Thursday came as the head of his South Korean employer and the
developer of the Kaesong complex, Hyundai Asan, was on an extended trip to
Pyongyang for a possible meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
"The government will continue to maintain its policy consistency toward North
Korea," Lee told reporters.
Yu's release comes amid virtually severed inter-Korean ties that have been
weakening since President Lee Myung-bak took office in February last year with a
vow to link cross-border rapprochement with North Korean denuclearization
efforts.
North Korea, which remains technically at war with the South and conducted its
second nuclear test in May, has constantly lashed out at Lee, accusing him of
aligning with U.S. hard-liners to topple its regime.
Political parties welcomed Yu's release across the board, but their messages on
the government's policy toward North Korea were mixed.
"North Korea reversed its mistaken actions and released Yu. We see it as the
North's answer to the government's consistent, principle-based policy toward the
North," Yoon Sang-hyun, spokesman for the ruling Grand National Party, said.
Noh Young-min, spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party, also welcomed
the release of Yu as fortunate, but demanded that the government change its
"hard-line" policy toward the North and introduce contingency schemes to prevent
possible similar incidents in the future.
(END)
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will not change its North Korea policy
despite the North's release Thursday of a South Korean worker after nearly 140
days of detention, the presidential office said, suggesting the chill between the
divided Koreas will continue at least for some time.
"It seems a bit too late, but it is a relief that Yu is finally returning to his
family," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said, referring to the detained
worker who was seized in late March at a joint industrial park in the North's
border town of Kaesong.
The North accused the Hyundai Asan worker of slandering its political system and
trying to incite defection by a female North Korean worker at Kaesong.
His release Thursday came as the head of his South Korean employer and the
developer of the Kaesong complex, Hyundai Asan, was on an extended trip to
Pyongyang for a possible meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
"The government will continue to maintain its policy consistency toward North
Korea," Lee told reporters.
Yu's release comes amid virtually severed inter-Korean ties that have been
weakening since President Lee Myung-bak took office in February last year with a
vow to link cross-border rapprochement with North Korean denuclearization
efforts.
North Korea, which remains technically at war with the South and conducted its
second nuclear test in May, has constantly lashed out at Lee, accusing him of
aligning with U.S. hard-liners to topple its regime.
Political parties welcomed Yu's release across the board, but their messages on
the government's policy toward North Korea were mixed.
"North Korea reversed its mistaken actions and released Yu. We see it as the
North's answer to the government's consistent, principle-based policy toward the
North," Yoon Sang-hyun, spokesman for the ruling Grand National Party, said.
Noh Young-min, spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party, also welcomed
the release of Yu as fortunate, but demanded that the government change its
"hard-line" policy toward the North and introduce contingency schemes to prevent
possible similar incidents in the future.
(END)
