(2nd LD) N. Korea offers swift report on agreement with Hyundai Group

(ATTN: ADDS report by pro-North paper in Japan in paras 7-8 )
SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korean media swiftly delivered Monday news of
the country's agreement with South Korea's Hyundai Group to resume joint
ventures, a report that comes in contrast to Pyongyang's customarily hostile
propaganda.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Hyundai Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun met Sunday
and reached an agreement to resuscitate stalled tourism projects and reunions of
families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
Kim "on August 16 granted a long audience to and had a cordial talk" with Hyun
and "complied with all her requests," the official Korean Central News Agency
said in a 4 a.m. report.
The report carried a joint statement on the accords signed by Hyundai and the
Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, a North Korean organ overseeing inter-Korean
exchanges.
The state-run radio Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported on the joint
statement at 7:20 a.m.
The country's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, published by the ruling Workers'
Party, ran the story on the second page of its Monday edition, suggesting the
joint statement had been transferred to the paper for printing the previous
night.
Assessing the surprise agreement as a breakthrough in icy inter-Korean relations,
a pro-North newspaper based in Japan stressed that South Korea should abandon its
hardline stance against Pyongyang.
"If the South Korean government precisely understands the meaning of a gesture
from Pyongyang, it should change its policy tack and stay away from sanctions (on
the North) imposed by the international community," the Choson Sinbo said.
"Without such a policy shift, inter-Korean relations will remain frozen."
North Korea has intensified its anti-Seoul propaganda since political relations
rapidly chilled after conservative President Lee Myung-bak took power last year.
Meanwhile, state media reported Kim has given field guidance at a newly built
fruit and meat store, Pothonggang Shop, believed to be in Pyongyang.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)