Seoul's policy on Pyongyang unchanged despite new deals on joint ventures: ministry

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- The keynote of South Korea's policy towards North
Korea remains unchanged despite a civilian-led breakthrough in stalled
inter-Korean economic projects, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.
"There is no change in the keynote of our government's policy in dealing with
North Korea," ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said at a press briefing. "A
change in the future situation will depend on North Korea's attitude and
position."
He was responding to a question about whether the agreement between North Korea
and Hyundai Group, announced earlier in the day, will affect global efforts to
implement the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1984 that aims to curb the inflow
of money that North may divert to its missile and nuclear program.
"The government will review the issue after getting the details of the
agreement," Moon said.
Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun met with the North's leader Kim Jong-il
in Pyongyang and agreed to resume the suspended tourism business to Kaesong, an
ancient city just north of the two Korea's border, and Mount Kumgang along its
east coast.
South Korea's Lee Myung-bak administration has linked any substantive economic
aid to the communist neighbor to progress in Pyongyang's denuclearization.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)