N. Korea allows resumption of inter-Korean tourism projects+

PYONGYANG/SEOUL, Aug. 17 Kyodo -
North Korea and South Korea's Hyundai Group have agreed on a set of measures
aimed at improving bilateral ties including resumption of inter-Korean tourism
projects and a reunion of separated families from the North and the South, the
North's state media said Monday.

The agreement was announced in a joint press release between the Hyundai Group
and North Korea's Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which handles
inter-Korean business ties, that was made public Monday, a day after North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il met with Hyundai chairwoman Hyun Jung Eun in
Pyongyang, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
In Seoul, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae Sung said the agreement is
''positive'' but needs official approval for the agreement to be implemented.
''The government positively views Hyundai Group's joint statement with North
Korea, but it is at the non-governmental level,'' Chun told a press briefing.
''The governments of South and North Korea need to work out a concrete
agreement through dialogue for this agreement to be realized,'' Chun said.
The measures, if implemented, would mark the transition of inter-Korean
relations, which have soured since South Korean President Lee Myung Bak took
office in February last year, to a recovery phase. The measures still need to
be approved by the South Korean government.
Through resumption of bilateral economic cooperation projects, it is believed
that North Korea will urge Lee to alter his hard-line policy toward North Korea
and show the United States that Pyongyang has moved to improve relations with
the South, which former U.S. President Bill Clinton requested during talks with
Kim earlier this month in a surprise visit to Pyongyang.
''Both sides expressed will to improve the North-South relations and further
develop cooperation for the common prosperity of the nation under the historic
June 15 joint declaration (of 2000) and the October 4 declaration (of 2007),''
the press release said, in yet another sign of rapprochement with the outside
world.
According to the release, the two sides agreed to resume the suspended tourism
of the North's Mt. Kumgang resort and also of the North's border town of
Kaesong soon.
It was also decided to hold a reunion of separated families and relatives from
the North and the South in Mt. Kumgang on Oct. 3 this year. The reunion project
has been suspended since October 2007.
Also decided is to restore land passage of the South's personnel through the
Military Demarcation Line and their stay in the North's area.
Moreover, the two sides have agreed to energize the operation of the Kaesong
industrial park.
The release referred to the possible launch of a tourism project to the North's
Mt. Paektu in accordance with the progress of Hyundai's preparations.
Hyun met Kim on Sunday after extending her stay in Pyongyang five times in hope
of meeting him. She traveled to North Korea last Monday to secure the release
of a South Korean worker detained at the Kaesong industrial park since March.
North Korea freed the worker, Yu Seong Jin, on Thursday, but Hyun remained to
press for continuation of cross-border projects that have been beset by
difficulties.
North Korea detained Yu, an employee of Hyundai Asan Corp, the North Korea
business arm of the Hyundai Group, for allegedly making critical remarks about
the North and trying to induce a North Korean woman to defect to the South.
Meanwhile, Hyun, who returned to South Korea on Monday, said her meeting with
Kim over lunch lasted for about four hours at a place at Mt. Myohyang.
''The talks broadly covered pending issues, including the resumption of a tour
project at Mt. Kumgang,'' Hyun told reporters shortly after crossing the
inter-Korean border to the South Korean side.
South Korea suspended the tour project at Mt. Kumgang after a North Korean
soldier shot dead a female South Korean tourist in July last year.
As for the death of the South Korean tourist, Hyun said Kim gave his assurances
that such an incident would not happen again.
North Korea has refused to allow a joint investigation into the shooting incident.
==Kyodo