GNP's new North Korea policy under fire from the inside
Leaders retreat, stating new policy initiatives are now just ''guidelines''
A new set of North Korea policy initiatives announced by leaders of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) are raising questions of feasibility and face strong opposition from the conservative right, both inside and outside the party.
In a meeting on July 4, the conservative-leaning GNP mapped out a set of North Korean policy initiatives, dubbed the ''Peace Vision for the Korean Peninsula.'' These new initiatives are based on a principle of ''flexible reciprocity,'' and imply that the party has softened its long-held hawkish attitude toward North Korea.
Some old articles on KAL 858
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The KAL's Flight-858 Incident: What is Meant by It
Website run by relatives of victims
[KAL 858]
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Reinvestigation of ’87 KAL Incident Demanded in S. Korea
A spy agency’s sensational remarks suggesting Seoul rulers' possible involvement in the 1987 KAL jetliner crash incident, surprised the public, raising a call for a thorough reinvestigation of the case.
The bombshell announcement by the Agency for National Security Planning (NSP) came two weeks after the spy agency arrested three men including a presidential secretary for attempting to bribe north Korea into provoking a shoot-out on the truce village of Panmunjom to ruling party leader Ri Hoi Chang’s chances of winning the 1997 presidential elections in south Korea.
The NSP’s position on the shoot-out plot released on Oct. 14 partly said;
“Our people have thought suspiciously about the north's rebellious plots which occur before every election. We have also felt strange about the fact that the ruling party has enjoyed benefit from each plot.
“They include the KAL explosion incident by the north which timely coincided with the 1987 presidential elections, spy Ri Yong Sil and the south Korean Workers’ Party incident with the 1992 presidential elections and north Korean soldiers’ intrusion into Panmunjom with the 1996 Apr. 11 general elections. The 1997 presidential elections were no exception.”
[KAL 858]
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Can Reinvestigation Shed Light on 1987 Mid-Air Bombing of KAL 858?
By Kim Hyung-jin
SEOUL, July 13 (Yonhap) -- Ten months before the 1988 Seoul Olympics, a South Korean passenger jet with 115 people on board mysteriously disappeared near Burma, now Myanmar. No survivors were found.
The then military-backed government of President Chun Doo-hwan closed the case two months later by announcing that two North Korean agents, posing as Japanese passengers, had planted a time-bomb on the flight to disrupt the Olympics. Despite the incident, the Olympics were held as scheduled.
Seventeen years later, new strong calls have arisen for a reinvestigation to clear lingering suspicions surrounding the incident. Officials deny any foul play but critics suspect it as a possible government put-up job linked with a hotly contested presidential election due to be held in about two weeks.