Koreas fail to agree on more family reunions, North requests aid

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES with more details throughout: RESTRUCTURES)
By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Yonhap) -- The two Koreas failed Friday to reach consensus on
holding more cross-border family reunions, with Pyongyang asking for
"humanitarian aid" by Seoul, officials said.
In the meeting arranged by Red Cross offices from both sides, South Korea
proposed holding new rounds of reunions for families separated by the 1950-53
Korean War next month and again around Lunar New Year's Day in February.
The latest round of family reunions, held in late September, was the first in
nearly two years. Ordinary Koreans cannot exchange phone calls, letters or email
across the border.
The one-day working-level meeting in Kaesong, just north of the shared border,
ended at around 6:30 p.m., officials at the unification ministry said.
"In conclusion, both Koreas failed to bridge differences on their stances on
further reunions. No concrete agreements were reached," an official at the
ministry said. But the two sides promised to consult one another for future Red
Cross talks.
"The North asked for humanitarian aid from the South. We told them that we will
review it after returning (to the South)," the official said.
Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said Thursday that the meeting will cover
"various issues" pertaining to cross-border exchanges. When asked by reporters
whether Seoul has any plan to resume rice aid after the talks, he said, "We will
decide depending on the developments."
Hyun's remarks suggested a somewhat softened position by Seoul on
government-level assistance, which stopped after South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak took office last year, linking inter-Korean exchanges to Pyongyang's
denuclearization.
The meeting was held following the North's test-firing of short-range missiles
and warnings of a naval clash in the Yellow Sea earlier this week. This
"two-track" diplomacy came as the communist country, currently under U.N.
sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests in spring, was pushing the South to
resume profitable tourism projects and humanitarian aid.
In a rare gesture to patch up frayed ties with the South, North Korea apologized
Wednesday for the deaths of six South Koreans who were swept away by a flash
flood after the North abruptly opened a dam last month.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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