ROK and Inter-Korean relations
June 2013
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Ruling party apparently obtained inter-Korean summit transcript during 2012 election
Posted on : Jun.27,2013 17:14 KST
Saenuri lawmaker Kim Moo-sung (right) covers his mouth as he talks during a June 26 meeting at the National Assembly. Kim was Park Geun-hye’s campaign manager and head of the election committee in last December’s election. (by Lee Jeong-ah, staff photographer)
Saenuri sources say they didn’t release the transcripts at the time due to lack of NIS cooperation
By Kim Su-heon, staff reporter
Trouble is brewing after new evidence surfaced on June 26 indicating that the Saenuri Party (NFP) had obtained the original transcript of the 2007 inter-Korean summit during the campaign period for the 2012 presidential election and made use of it during the election. If these allegations prove true, it would mean that the Park Geun-hye campaign had enlisted the aid of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to illegally obtain and utilize the transcript of the inter-Korean summit with the goal of gaining an advantage in the election. This could lead to severe repercussions. Depending on developments, this may lead to allegations that the NIS (which is already being investigated by the prosecutors for trying to manufacture public opinion in the presidential election) was involved in yet more election rigging, and that the Lee Myung-bak administration and the Saenuri also interfered in the elections. It is not outside the realm of possibility that this could send shockwaves throughout the political arena.
One reason the allegations that the Saenuri obtained and utilized the transcript from the inter-Korean summit during the 2012 presidential election are being treated as fairly credible is that they were triggered by comments made by Saenuri lawmaker Kim Moo-sung. Kim was the campaign manager and head of the election committee for Park Geun-hye when she was running for president.
[KR_Summit07]
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N.Korea Has No Comment on Summit Transcripts
North Korea on Wednesday slammed the South Korean National Intelligence Service for allegedly meddling in last year's presidential election but kept silent about its disclosure of transcripts from the 2007 inter-Korean summit.
The state-run Rodong Sinmun daily said the NIS has become "a slave to power" and helped conservatives retain control of the country.
NIS agents allegedly posted a raft of online comments ahead of the election to sway it in favor of Park Geun-hye, who won by a slim majority.
The article did comment on the debate surrounding the transcripts, which show just how far then-president Roh Moo-hyun was prepared to go in adjusting the controversial de facto sea border, but it had nothing to say about the transcripts themselves.
[KR_Summit07]
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Did President know about it?
Summit minute disclosure puts Park on offensive
By Jun Ji-hye
President Park Geun-hye
How was President Park Geun-hye involved in the disclosure of the 2007 inter-Korean summit minutes?
Did Park order it? Did she receive a report from the National Intelligence Service (NIS)? Or was she not aware of it? At least for now, there can’t be any way of knowing exactly what role she played.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) claimed that if she didn’t know, it was tantamount to a coup by the spy agency’s chief Nam Jae-joon.
Nam, a former Army chief of staff, said that he told neither Park nor the ruling Saenuri Party. The NIS normally directly reports to the President.
But one thing that is sure is that Park has benefited the most from the NIS declassification of the six-year-old minutes.
[NIS] [NLL] [KR_Summit07]
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NK condemns South for releasing transcript of inter-Korean summit
North Korea launched into a tirade Thursday against South Korea's recent declassification of a transcript of an inter-Korean summit in 2007.
A North Korean agency handling inter-Korean affairs accused the South's conservative forces of attempting to use the secret documents for political purposes and further undermine summit deals on inter-Korean reconciliation between then-leaders Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il.
"The group's unilateral opening to public the summit minutes without approval of the north is a mockery of the dignity of its supreme leadership and a grave provocation to the dialogue partner," the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a English-version statement carried by the communist nation's official news agency, KCNA.
[KR_Summit07]
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Disclosure of Summit Transcripts Open Can of Worms
The National Intelligence Service's disclosure of transcripts from a 2007 inter-Korean summit on Monday has landed the spy agency in hot water, provoking outrage not only against former President Roh Moo-hyun but also against the NIS, which stands accused of an incurable addiction to meddling in politics.
The NIS claims it disclosed the transcripts, which show Roh willing to redraw the de facto sea border with North Korea, to settle polarizing debate about what Roh exactly said when he met then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. But if the aim was to calm public opinion, it has had the opposite effect.
Roh in the transcripts says the Northern Limit Line, which was drawn up unilaterally by the U.S.-led powers after the Korean War "is weirdly shaped and has turned into some sort of monster that can't be touched." He adds, "I agree with [Kim Jong-il]. The NLL should be changed."
[Roh Moo-hyun] [NLL] [KR_Summit07]
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[Editorial] The conservative distortion of Roh Moo-hyun’s summit remarks
Posted on : Jun.26,2013 12:52 KST
The ruling Saenuri Party (NFP) and the rest of the conservative establishment started to make political capital of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) during the 2012 presidential election. The charge began with Saenuri lawmaker Chung Moon-hun, who served as the secretary for unification at the Blue House during the Lee Myung-bak administration. During a National Assembly audit in Oct. 2012, Chung claimed that former president Roh Moon-hyun had promised to surrender South Korean territory during a summit with late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at the 2007 inter-Korean summit.
Roh said that the NLL was a headache and that the US had arbitrarily drawn the line in an attempt to seize more land, Chung alleged. He also claimed that Roh had suggested that Seoul would not make claims about the NLL in the future and that if they used the area as a joint fishing zone, the NLL problem would disappear on its own.
Several figures who had been present at the summit - former Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong, former National Intelligence Service (NIS) director Kim Man-bok, and former Blue House security chief Baek Jong-cheon stepped forward at once to dismiss these claims as fabrications. Nevertheless, the conservative forces brought them up as talking points throughout the presidential campaign in a bid to sway the election. It was a new spin on the old tactic of smearing the opposition by portraying them as North Korean sympathizers.
[Roh Moo-hyun] [NLL] [KR_Summit07]
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At 2007 inter-Korean summit, then-Pres. Roh discussed autonomy
Posted on : Jun.26,2013 12:57 KSTModified on : Jun.26,2013 12:58 KST
Former president discussed ways of gradually reducing reliance on US and handling inter-Korean relations
By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter
One of the key words from the Oct. 2007 inter-Korean summit is “autonomy.” At the beginning of the talks, former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il strongly urged the South to assume autonomy in its handling of inter-Korean affairs. Roh Moo-hyun responded by informing Pyongyang that the South had already embarked on a gradual transition to autonomy that was informed by its relations with the US. In light of this, he called for Pyongyang to work with the South.
In viewing the full summit transcript, it is clear that it was Kim who began this discussion. “Currently, we’re not even able to hold minister-level talks properly. They are held or not held, depending on to the political conditions. Don’t you think the South should be a little more autonomous?” Kim said, putting pressure on the South. “All we have to do is define the problem as something that Koreans should settle among themselves. But there are a lot of other parties whose opinions you have to consider, aren’t there. Are you not able to speak for yourself?” In brief, Kim was telling Roh to stop worrying about what the US thinks and to handle inter-Korean relations according to his own principles.
[Roh Moo-hyun] [Summit] [Client] [KR_Summit07]
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Former Pres. Roh’s comments from recently released summit transcripts
Posted on : Jun.26,2013 13:00 KST
Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il shake hands in Pyongyang at the inter-Korean summit on Oct. 3, 2007.
Roh talked to Kim Jong-il of solving problems together in the context of building trust
By Seok Jin-hwan, Blue House correspondent
“I’ve had more than 50 overseas meetings, and every time foreign leaders have talked about the North, I’ve acted as a kind of mouthpiece for the North, or its advocate. Sometimes I’ve gotten red in the face.”
“Over the past few years, I’ve been fighting with the US over the North’s position on the nuclear issue at the six-party talks.”
These are some of the quotes from former President Roh Moo-hyun found in the transcript of his 2007 summit conversation with then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The first, about acting as North Korea’s “advocate,” was made in the context of a discussion about building trust between the two sides. In the transcript - illegally released this week by the National Intelligence Service - Roh is quoted as telling Kim, “I’ve have always worked to build trust, believing I would have the chance to have dialogue with you. Very little progress has been made in achieving political reconciliation and building military trust, and we now need to really have a discussion about forward-thinking measures to increase trust between North and South, and to take inter-Korean economic cooperation in a more future-oriented direction within a broader framework.”
[Roh Moo-hyun] [KR_Summit07]
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Summit Transcripts Throw New Light on Roh's View of NLL
Transcripts of a meeting in 2007 between president Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il throw new light on just how far Roh was willing to go in adjusting the de facto inter-Korean maritime border in the West Sea.
The Northern Limit Line drawn up unilaterally by the U.S.-led powers after the Korean War "is weirdly shaped and has turned into some sort of monster that can't be touched," Roh says in the transcript. "I agree with [Kim Jong-il]. The NLL should be changed."
The line, instead of running straight, bends sharply northward to incorporate several islands off the North Korean coast into South Korean territory. It has long been a key point of contention with North Korea, which refuses to accept and regularly violates it, while conservatives here see its integrity as a point of honor.
[NLL] [KR_Summit07]
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The fallout from the NIS’s abrupt inter-Korean summit transcript release
Posted on : Jun.25,2013 11:46 KSTModified on : Jun.25,2013 11:46 KST
Concerns abound that the NIS violated protocol by releasing the transcript and could threaten inter-Korean relations in the future
By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer
There are concerns that the sudden decision by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to disclose the transcript from the 2007 inter-Korean summit goes beyond a violation of the law and may have a severely negative influence both on national security and on the future of record-keeping culture. Many observers are arguing that the people who released the transcript should be held strictly responsible for their actions.
[KR_Summit07]
[Roh Moo-hyun]
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Summit transcript: Roh Moo-hyun’s idea was a peace zone, not abandonment
Posted on : Jun.25,2013 14:56 KSTModified on : Jun.25,2013 19:05 KST
Despite conservative smear campaign, what Roh actually suggested was a cooperative fishing and navigation zone
By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter
The eight pages of excerpts from the transcript of the inter-Korean summit that took place in Oct. 2007, which the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) released to the press on June 24, contain a detailed description of the process through which former president Roh Moo-hyun worked to persuade then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and resolve the issue of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West (Yellow) Sea. The excerpts confirm that Roh had not abandoned the NLL as the conservative establishment is contending. Rather, they show that he was trying to resolve the ultimate reason for the NLL’s existence - that is, the confrontation between North and South - by building trust as North and South made peaceful use of the West Sea.
[Roh Moo-hyun] [NLL] [KR_Summit07]
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NIS carefully planned release of 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript
Posted on : Jun.25,2013 15:01 KST
Ruling party never sought opposition agreement on the release, and lawmakers from other parties didn’t accept transcripts
By Kim Su-heon and Song Chae Kyung-hwa, staff reporters
Evidence suggests the release of transcripts from a 2007 inter-Korean summit by Saenuri Party members of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee was carefully planned by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
On June 20, the NIS brought excerpts and original copies of the records to the National Assembly - without any agreement from the opposition - and showed them only to Saenuri members of the committee. At the time, they said the records had been requested by Suh Sang-ki, a Saenuri member of the committee. The content was then leaked to the press by members who saw the records. When a controversy ensued, a key NIS figure declared on June 21 that the records would be declassified, then reclassified as “general documents” so that the general public could read their content. This plan was carried out on June 24.
[NIS] [KR_Summit07]
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Park regrets Roh's remarks on NLL
Saenuri okays probe into NIS
By Kim Tae-gyu
President Park Geun-hye
President Park Geun-hye called on the nation Tuesday to remember the bloodshed and lives sacrificed by young seaman to protect the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border with North Korea in the West Sea.
Park said, during a weekly Cabinet meeting on the 63rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War (1950-53), “We should not forget that so many young people have defended the NLL with their blood and lives.”
Observers took Park’s remarks as a show of disapproval of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun who questioned the legitimacy of the NLL during a 2007 inter-Korean summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
[NLL] [Park Geun-hye] [KR_Summit07]
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Most Teens Don't Know When Korean War Started
More than half of South Korea's teenagers do not know when the 1950-53 Korean War started, according to a survey ahead of the 60th anniversary of the war's outbreak.
The Ministry of Security and Public Administration questioned 1,000 middle and high school students and 1,000 adults across the country from May 25 to June 6 and found no great awareness of national security matters despite frequent provocations from North Korea.
Some 35.8 percent of adults and 52.7 percent of teenagers were unable to name the correct date of the start of the Korean War. The proportion who got the date wrong was particularly high among women and girls with 44.6 percent and 62.5 percent.
Among those surveyed, 64.9 percent of adults and 51.9 percent of teenagers said they are very conscious of the need for national security. That is virtually the same as last year, up 1.6 percentage point among adults and 0.8 percentage points among teens, well within the margin of error.
A slim majority among teens or 50.2 percent said North Korea's third nuclear test, belligerent rhetoric and closure of the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex in recent months have not changed their view of national security.
South Koreans remain divided in their attitude to North Korea. Some 43 percent of adults think the government should cooperate with North Korea, up 9.3 percentage points since the sinking of the Cheonan in 2010. But 52.4 percent of adults said North Korea is an enemy, down 7.5 percentage points compared to 2010.
Among teenagers, 44.1 percent believe the government should cooperate with North Korea.
Still, 41.3 percent of teenagers said they expect the North to launch a major provocation, compared to only 24 percent of adults.
[Korean War]
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NIS to disclose transcript of 2007 inter-Korean summit
The National Intelligence Service said Monday it has decided to declassify a 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript that reportedly confirms allegations that late former President Roh Moo-hyun made remarks seriously undermining the legitimacy of the western sea border with North Korea.
If made public, the summit "minutes" will lay bare discussions that Roh had with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during their meeting in Pyongyang, including whether the late liberal leader made the alleged remarks about the sea border, known as the Northern Limit Line.
The disclosure is expected to have deep political repercussions amid opposition claims that the spy agency is trying to divulge state secrets in an attempt to divert public outrage away from allegations that the agency attempted to influence December's presidential election.
The NIS said it decided to make the summit records public as controversy continues over Roh's alleged remarks, and both the ruling and opposition parties called for its disclosure. The agency said it will deliver the minutes to members of the parliamentary intelligence committee later Monday.
[NLL] [KR_Summit07]
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N.Korea Parades Young Refugees Before Media
North Korea on Wednesday paraded before the state press nine young defectors who were coerced into returning from Laos last month. The teenagers, who are believed to be orphans, recited declarations of loyalty to the repressive state and accused South Korea of attempting to kidnap them.
The official KCNA news agency on Thursday said the young defectors "returned to the arms of their fatherland" after being tricked into leaving the North by the "puppet regime" of South Korea.
The young defectors had attempted to reach South Korea via China and Laos, but were taken back to North Korea late last month by North Korean agents, who apparently badgered them into submission in a Lao detention center.
Reports about their ages differ, with some saying they were all teenagers and others that they are between 15 and 23.
KCNA named the youngsters and said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had extended his "loving arms" to accept them, saving them from "falling forever into the depths of misery."
It claimed that the nine young defectors had been living in a South Korean activist's home in China for anywhere between five months and three years and crossed the border into Laos by car. It added Laotian authorities "helped" them return to the North after learning that they were being abducted.
[Refugee encouragement]
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S.Korea, U.S., Japan Set Tougher Terms for Talks with N.Korea
South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have set tougher terms for any talks with North Korea, calling on Pyongyang to demonstrate sincerity through better guarantees than those agreed to in an abortive aid-for-disarmament deal reached with the U.S. more than a year ago.
Seoul's chief envoy to stalled six-party talks, Cho Tae-young, told reporters after a meeting in Washington D.C. with his counterparts from the U.S. and Japan, "Stronger requirements should be imposed [on the North] than the Feb. 29 agreement between North Korea and the United States."
[Rebuff] [US dominance]
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Footballer Jong Tae-se Probed for Supporting N.Korea
Prosecutors are investigating a complaint filed by the Korea Internet Media Association against footballer Jong Tae-se of the Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
The association, which is headed by rightwing pundit Byun Hee-jae, accuses Jong of violating the decades-old National Security Law by voicing support for North Korea, for which he played in the last World Cup.
The Suwon prosecutors' office said it has to investigate since it received an official complaint.
The association is upset by remarks Jong made in interviews with the foreign press in the past such as, "I respect [ex-North Korean leader] Kim Jong-il and I trust and follow him," and "My fatherland is North Korea."
[Human rights] [NSL]
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Korean-made teargas stifles protesters in Turkey
Posted on : Jun.21,2013 15:51 KSTModified on : Jun.21,2013 16:00 KST
A canister of CNO Tech tear gas, which is made in South Korea and exported to Turkey and other countries.
Amid anti-government protests, activists asking South Korean firm to stop its exports of teargas to Turkey
By Lee Jung-gook and Ahn Soo-chan, staff reporters
Controversy has erupted after it was revealed that the tear gas used in Turkey to suppress anti-government protestors was manufactured in Korea. The fact came to light because of tear gas canisters that were found recently in Ankara, capital of Turkey. On a label placed on the canisters is written the name of a Korean company, CNO Tech, from Mungyeong in North Gyeongsang Province.
[Arms sales]
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Round-table Talks Held with Teenagers Who Came Back to DPRK
Pyongyang, June 20 (KCNA) -- Teenagers who came back to the DPRK while being taken away to the south after being kidnapped by south Koreans had round-table talks at the Koryo Hall of Compatriots Thursday.
They were Ro Jong Yong (14), Ryu Chol Ryong, Jang Kuk Hwa and Ri Kwang Hyok (15), Jong Kwang Yong (16), Pak Kwang Hyok (17), Ryu Kwang Hyok (18), Mun Chol and Paek Yong Won (19).
They first talked about how they were being taken away to south Korea, after being taken in by the south Korean puppet group which hatched a sordid plot.
[Refugee encouragement]
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Park vs. Kim: Who Wins This Game of Thrones?
By John Delury
18 June 2013
Park Geun-hye can be hard to read. But when it comes to her approach to inter-Korean relations, the most striking element has appeared to be her willingness to engage North Korea—particularly since her conservative base finds the very idea anathema. Even after the springtime madness that brought the two Koreas to the brink of accidental war, Park stuck by “trust” as the cornerstone of her policy toward the North. She tweaked the phrasing since her 2011 Foreign Affairs article, which introduced the catchier term “trustpolitik”—these days, officials use the more anodyne “trust building process” (?? ????). But in either formulation, it is revealing that the Sino-Korean ideograph for “trust” (?) is made up of the characters for “people” (?) and “talking” (?). And sure enough, last week—for the first time in years—the two Koreas started talking again.
Delegations from North and South met on June 9, 2013 in the Panmunjom peace village in the DMZ (where the Korean War armistice was negotiated 60 years ago), with the agenda of setting up a senior-level dialogue in Seoul. For a fleeting moment, Seoul and Pyongyang were actually talking face-to-face, rather than yelling at each other via Ministry of Unification press conferences and Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) statements. Expectations quickly rose that we were on the verge of a new inflection point in inter-Korean relations, and that Park’s “trust” approach really was a departure from the past five years of inter-Korean conflict and acrimony.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Park Geun-hye]
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N.Korea Brings Out Attack Boats
North Korean warships are busy plying both East and West Seas, including semi-submersible craft recently moved to a forward base near the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea.
The semi-submersibles are often seen docking at a forward base in waters near the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea, a government source in Seoul said. South Korea and the U.S. are keeping close track of their movements.
[Buildup]
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N.Korea's Offer of Talks with U.S. Is Hot Air
North Korea on Sunday morning proposed talks with the U.S. to "ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, establish regional peace and security and realize the U.S. vision for a world free of nuclear weapons."
A statement by the North's National Defense Commission claimed denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was a long-cherished wish of nation founder Kim Il-sung and late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Yet senior North Korean military figure Choe Ryong-hae only last month reportedly urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to recognize the renegade country as a bona-fide nuclear power because it needs to defend itself against the U.S. He was rebuffed. Soon afterwards the North, evidently under Chinese pressure, proposed talks with Seoul but cancelled them on the flimsiest of pretexts.
Once again the North does not seem very sincere in its quest for talks with the U.S. Even its stated desire to discuss "the U.S. vision for a world free of nuclear weapons" means in effect that it wants mutual disarmament talks, and that simply is not going to happen.
[Overture] [US NK Negotiations][Rebuff]
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Gwangju’s May 18 victims’ Moms come to protest in Seoul
Posted on : Jun.16,2013 07:54 KSTModified on : Jun.16,2013 08:04 KST
People related to the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement and members of civic groups hold a press conference in front of former president Chun Doo-hwan’s house in Seoul’s Yeonhui neighborhood calling for the restitution of Chun‘s property, June 10. (by Kim Jeong-hyo, staff photographer)
They are calling for former president Chun Doo-hwan to pay his penalties
By Jung Dae-ha, Gwangju correspondent in Seoul
“Dignity for my son’s death! Come out, Chun Doo-hwan!”
“How dare you can live in such luxury after killing our sons!”
On June 10, citizens were shouting at the entrance to at former president Chun Doo-hwan’s home in the Yeonhui neighborhood of Seoul’s Seodaemun District. They were mothers who lost their children during the Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980. Civic organizations prepared bus transportation from Gwangju to Seoul- so-called May Buses. Once the bus arrived, 200 people from Gwangju got out to protest Chun Doo-hwan’s unpaid penalties.
Kim Kil-ja, 73, is the mother of Moon Jae-hak who was shot to death by the Martial Forces at South Jeolla Provincial Office on May 27, 1980 when he was only 17. The same day, the movement was squashed by the Martial Forces. Kim said, “Chun’s family has lived on the hidden assets which he stole. That’s why we must punish him by getting back all his concealed assets.”[Chun Doo-hwan]
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[Editorial] Both South and North need to be considerate to improve inter-Korean relations
Posted on : Jun.13,2013 16:32 KST
Looking back at the failed attempts at holding inter-Korean talks over the past six years, one can easily spot the problems with Seoul’s approach to devising and implementing its North Korea policy. North Korea’s attitude was, at least this time around, secondary.
Concerning the issue in question of rank of the delegation heads at the talks, a senior Blue House official explained that it is “not desirable for the future of inter-Korean relations to force the same kinds of submission and humiliation on the other side that North Korea did in the past.” The official also asked, “whether it is possible to trust an agreement made between representatives at different levels.” This reasoning is rather difficult to fathom. It was South Korea that proposed minister-level talks and then named a vice minister as its representative. And it is North Korea that should feel humiliated by the gesture.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Koreas to hold separate events for 2000 summit
By Chung Min-uck
Two events to mark the 13th anniversary of the 2000 inter-Korean summit will be held separately in South and North Korea Saturday after the government refused to agree to share the occasion at a location in North Korea.
The South Korean Committee for the Joint Implementation of the June 15 Summit Declaration said Friday that it agreed with its North Korean counterpart to have separate events.
The South Korean Committee’s occurrence will take place at Imjingak near the demilitarized zone in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.
However, the committee said it will present a joint declaration with the North Korean Committee urging for a joint event to be held eventually with North Korea to celebrate the anniversary.
Last month, the North invited the South Korean civic group to a joint inter-Korean event, but the Unification Ministry refused to agree to this, describing it as a ploy by Pyongyang to fuel internal discord in the South.
Since the killing of a South Korean tourist at North Korea’s Mt. Geumgang on July 2008 by a North Korean soldier, the government has held back the South Korean committee from holding a joint event.
[Summit00]
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Pres. Park says “form can dictate content” in inter-Korean talks
Posted on : Jun.15,2013 12:42 KSTModified on : Jun.15,2013 12:59 KST
Seoul, Washington and Beijing hold consistent positions on the need for N. Korean denuclearization
By Seok Jin-hwan, Blue House correspondent
President Park Geun-hye expressed "dismay" on June 14 over the cancellation of talks between North and South Korean authorities, but stressed the importance of the proper format for the talks.
"The format shows your mind-set and respect toward the other side," Park was reported as saying. "Form can dictate content."
Her remarks, made during a meeting at the Blue House on the morning of June 14 with former Chinese State Council member Tang Jiaxuan, were relayed by Blue House spokesperson Kim Haeng.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Appeal to All Koreans Issued
Pyongyang, June 14 (KCNA) -- The north, the south and overseas sides committees for Implementing the June 15 Joint Declaration Friday released an appeal to all Koreans at home and abroad on Friday, a day before the 13th anniversary of the June 15 joint declaration.
The appeal said:
The publication of the June 15 joint declaration marked a great event of particular importance in the history of the nation as it put an end to the history of distrust and confrontation which lasted for over half a century and ushered in a new era of national reconciliation, unity, reunification, peace and prosperity.
The severed ties of the nation and cut railways and roads were rejoined and people from all walks of life in the north and the south visited each other thanks to the broad way paved by the June 15 era, sharing compatriotic love. They held great festivals for reunification, proudly declaring "Korea is one" before the whole world
But, the last five years have witnessed the inter-Korean ties worsen due to the denial of the spirit of the June 15 joint declaration and escalating military tension and confrontation. The tour of Mt. Kumgang resort, a symbol of the June 15 era, was suspended and the Kaesong Industrial Zone was put in the danger of closure.
[Summit00]
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2 ex-Presidents test nation's patience
Chun, Roh haven't paid enormous fines for 26 years
By Kang Seung-woo
Are they crooks? The late U.S. President Richard Nixon denied being one in his 1973 press conference but had to resign a year later as a result of the Watergate scandal.
By this standard, the answer is obvious when the question is asked about two of Korea’s former presidents, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo.
They both conspired as Army generals to grab power through coups in 1979.
The two are back in the news over enormous fines they have refused to pay for 26 years.
[Corruption]
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N.Korea Accuses South of Sabotaging Talks
North Korea on Thursday said it has "no modicum of any lingering desire" for inter-Korean talks. It was the first official comment since the North canceled talks scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
A spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, which deals with inter-Korean matters, accused South Korean officials of "scuttling the talks by arrogant obstruction and a deliberate plot."
"It's only too clear that it is impossible to sit at a table with such people to discuss ways to solve inter-Korean issues," the spokesman added.
Pyongyang abruptly cancelled the planned high-level talks when lower-ranking officials met over the weekend and wrangled over the rank of chief delegates.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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South and North play the blame game over cancelled talks
Posted on : Jun.14,2013 11:54 KSTModified on : Jun.14,2013 18:14 KST
An elderly man shed tears at the Korea National Red Cross where family reunion requests can be submitted, June 13. The elderly man is hoping to see his relatives who live in North Korea. Followed by the recent cancellation of inter-Korean talks, it is now not known when divided families will be able to see each other again. (by Shin So-young, staff photographer)
Both sides appear to have little interest in serious government talks, meaning distrustful relations are likely to continue
By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter
North and South are blaming each other for the cancellation of inter-Korean talks and unleashing a barrage of harsh comments, darkening the prospects for future talks. Communication has not taken place via the North and South Korean communication liaisons at Panmunjom for two days since the line was restored.
On May 13, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) carried a statement from the spokesperson of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF), an organization affiliated with the Workers’ Party. In the statement, the CPRF said that North Korea “doesn’t have the slightest desire to hold government-level talks.”
[SK NK Negotiations]
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N.Korea Severs Hotline Again
North Korea on Wednesday cut off an inter-Korean hotline at the truce village of Panmunjom again, only days after reconnecting it last week. A day earlier the North abruptly cancelled cross-border talks scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday amid wrangling about the rank of the chief delegates from the two sides.
A Unification Ministry official on Wednesday said a liaison officer made a test call through the Panmunjom hotline around 9 a.m., but there was no answer from the North. The same thing happened at 4 p.m.
There was no official announcement from the North.
The North severed the Panmunjom hotline on March 27 in protest against joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Dialogue with N.Korea Needs Patience and Consistency
North Korea on Wednesday again severed a hotline at the border peace village of Panmunjom, only a week after reopening it and a day after abruptly canceling planned talks with South Korea amid wrangling about the rank of the chief delegates from the two sides.
The North proposed to send Kang Ji-yong, a director at the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, which is in charge of cross-border affairs, but demanded that Seoul send the unification minister, and pretended to be hugely offended when Seoul instead named a vice minister, who still outranked its own faceless apparatchik.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Analysis: lack of trust scuttles inter-Korean talks
Posted on : Jun.13,2013 11:49 KST
Talks were officially cancelled over disagreement about delegation heads; inter-Korean trust-building process still not begun
By Gil Yun-hyung and Kim Su-heon, staff reporters
If everything had gone as planned, government talks between North and South Korea would have been in full swing on June 12. Instead, the South Korean Prime Minister was making comments about the issue of rank that had led to the cancellation of the talks, seemingly obsessed with trivial issues of protocol. It was business as usual for North Korea, which declined to answer phone calls from the South on the Red Cross line. Inter-Korean relations are rapidly deteriorating to the status quo prior to June 6, the day that North Korea made the offer for talks.
“North Korea did not answer our phone call at 9 am when the work day began or our phone call at 4 pm when it ended,” said a Ministry of Unification official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We tried calling them all day long, but they never answered.”
While Pyongyang had notified its counterparts in the South that the talks were being “put on hold,” the actual message seems to be that the North is willing to cancel the talks altogether. When North Korea informed Seoul that it was delaying the talks on June 11, it used inflammatory terms such as “provocation” and “ridicule.”
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Rodong Sinmun Calls for Creating Atmosphere of Inter-Korean Dialogue
Pyongyang, June 12 (KCNA) -- Creating an atmosphere of dialogue is an issue which should be solved before anything else for improving the inter-Korean ties, says Rodong Sinmun Wednesday in a bylined article.
It goes on:
The issue of the inter-Korean relations cannot be resolved by the efforts of one party alone.
Only when both sides seek a settlement of all issues arising in the inter-Korean ties through dialogue at the negotiating table in a candid manner, can the north-south relations advance in the direction of reconciliation and unity.
The inter-Korean dialogue should be the one bringing hope and joy to all Koreans who ardently desire national reunification under any circumstances.
It is important to have a proper attitude towards dialogue in order to create such an atmosphere.
It is not a true attitude to antagonize or suspect a dialogue partner first.
If one pays lip-service to dialogue and pursues confrontation, speaking ill of its dialogue partner behind the scene, it will only stir up distrust and conflict among Koreans and adversely affect the dialogue itself.
The north-south dialogue is not a monopoly of someone and the national reunification movement is a nation-wide one involving all Koreans.
It is necessary to give momentum to the atmosphere of the north-south dialogue on the principle of subordinating everything to national interests and the cause of national reunification.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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N. Korea lambastes S. Korea for aborted inter-Korean talks
2013-06-13 08:00
North Korea harshly criticized South Korea Thursday for the aborted plans to hold high-level talks between the two sides, indicating it would not seek dialogue for the time being.
The North accused the South of deliberately "creating an obstacle" to the resumption of high-level talks by taking issue with the rank of North Korea's top delegate.
"This fully proves that the south side had no intent to hold dialogue from the beginning and that it only sought to create an obstacle to the talks, delay and torpedo them after reluctantly taking part in the talks, far from solving issues at the negotiating table," a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) said in a statement, according to the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang's official news agency.
The two Koreas agreed to hold their first high-level dialogue in six years this week but the North later announced it would not participate. Pyongyang was upset by Seoul's notification that it would be represented by a vice minister in the talks, which were scheduled to take place in Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday.
The South said it was seeking to match the status of its top delegate to that of North Korea. But Pyongyang claimed Seoul should have decided to send the unification minister in charge of inter-Korean relations.
"The recent impolite and immoral provocative behavior of the puppet group made us think once again whether it will be possible either to properly discuss matters or improve the inter-Korean relations even if the talks between authorities are opened in the future," the CPRK said.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Why did North call it off?
2013-06-12 16:39
A South Korean soldier restricts access by a civilian at the Unification Bridge near the border village of Panmunjeom in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Delegates from the North were supposed to cross the symbolic bridge, that links the two Koreas, separated since the Korean War (1950-53), to attend Wednesday’s inter-Korean meeting which was called off unilaterally by the North, Tuesday.
/ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Chung Min-uck
North Korea unilaterally called off a government-to-government meeting between the two Koreas because South Korea did not want to hold annual ceremonies that commemorate inter-Korean joint statements, experts said, Wednesday.
South Korea, in the preliminary working-level meeting on Sunday, rejected the North’s proposal to include holding ceremonies marking the June 15 Joint Declaration and the July 4 Joint Statement as agendas for the now-canceled inter-Korean meeting which was due on Wednesday.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Summit00]
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Seoul rolls up red carpet for scrapped talks with North Korea but rivals may try again
By Associated Press,
Published: June 12 | Updated: Thursday, June 13, 10:15 AM
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea dismantled the meeting table, pulled down the placards and rolled up the red carpet. Its intended guest, North Korea, has stopped answering the phone.
The rivals’ much-anticipated meeting, which had been set for Wednesday, collapsed before it even began. But while the last-minute cancellation over a protocol dispute shows the Koreas’ deep mutual mistrust, they may have more reasons than not to eventually unpack the meeting gear and get back to negotiations.
New South Korean President Park Geun-hye is under pressure to make good on her campaign promises to reverse a deterioration of ties under her hard-line predecessor. A high-level meeting would validate her attempt to combine a tough line against provocations with commitments to provide aid and steady calls for dialogue.
North Korea is interested in reviving the two economic projects that were to be the main focus of the meetings, both as an emblem of reconciliation and as a source of foreign investment and hard cash. Pyongyang may also be feeling a pinch from its only major ally, China, which has clamped down on cross-border trade and financial dealings in a show of displeasure over a recent spike in tensions.
“Even though a cooling-off period at this point is inevitable, it is still possible for a different level of the South-North talks to take place as time passes,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korea studies of Dongguk University in Seoul.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Inter-Korean talks on hold
Xinhua, June 12, 2013
High-level inter-governmental talks between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) scheduled to be held on Wednesday and Thursday in Seoul was called off due to the disagreement over the level of chief delegates, the South Korean Unification Ministry said Tuesday.
"The north side (DPRK) unilaterally notified us of its decision to delay the dispatch of its delegation," Kim Hyung-seok, spokesman of the Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean relations told a press briefing.
Kim noted that the DPRK informed us that the inter-Korean talks will not be held unless the ministerial-level official from South Korea comes to the dialogue table.
Seoul's delegation is led by Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam- shik, but the DPRK lashed out at such nomination of lower-level governmental official. The DPRK nominated Kang Ji-young, director at the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) as chief negotiator.
[SK NK negotiations]
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N.Korea Calls Off Cross-Border Talks
North Korea on Tuesday called off high-level government talks with South Korea amid wrangling about the rank of the chief delegates from the two sides. The talks had been scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, raising hopes of a thaw in long-frozen ties between the two Koreas.
"North Korea informed us it would not be sending delegates," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk told reporters Tuesday evening. "After exchanging lists of the five negotiators each planned to send, the North said the meeting could not be held if no [South Korean] minister-level official attended."
Seoul had named Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-sik as chief negotiator, while the North proposed to send Kang Ji-yong, a director at the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, which is in charge of cross-border affairs
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Seoul Was Right to Reject N.Korea's Insulting Demands
North Korea on Tuesday abruptly cancelled cross-border government talks which were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. The North affected to be terribly offended when South Korea proposed as delegation leader a vice minister who roughly matched the rank of the North Korean chief delegate.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Cheong Wa Dae Warns N.Korea Against Arm-Twisting
The presidential office on Tuesday criticized North Korea for trying to blackmail the South into agreeing to its terms for negotiations and called on the North to change its behavior if it really wants constructive dialogue.
Cheong Wa Dae was referring to North Korean attempts to engineer a meeting between the South Korean unification minister and a lower-ranking North Korean official, which might have signaled that Pyongyang has Seoul over a barrel.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Inter-Korean talks called off over delegation leader rank disagreements
Posted on : Jun.12,2013 12:00 KSTModified on : Jun.12,2013 14:13 KST
South and North unable to agree on who would lead negotiations, both insisting on minister-level officials
By Kang Tae-ho, senior staff writer
The disagreement over who would lead the North and South Korean delegations to the government talks that had been scheduled to take place in Seoul on June 12 and 13 led to the talks being canceled.
Considering that the talks would have been the first to be held since Park Geun-hye became president of South Korea, there had been considerable expectation that they would serve as a starting point for improving relations between South and North. But instead, they have shown once again how far inter-Korean relations still have to go.
“There have been a total of 606 points of contact and meetings between North and South Korea since the July 4th Joint Declaration, but there has been nothing like this,” said one expert on the issue of the divided peninsula.
At 1pm on June 11, officials from North and South met to exchange the lists of the five-member delegations to the talks. But as soon as North Korea received the list, they objected to the delegates that South Korea had selected. The issue was that Kim Nam-sik, vice minister of unification, was listed as the head of the delegation.
During the working-level meeting on June 9, North Korea had agreed that the delegations would be led by minister-level officials. North Korea insisted that, since the delegation head that the South had chosen was a vice minister, he would not be on the same level as the head of their delegation, who they claimed was a minister-level official.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Inter-Korean talks called off
2013-06-11 22:14
A table and chairs are set up in a conference room at the Grand Hilton Seoul, Tuesday, where inter-Korean government-level talks were supposed to take place today. The talks were called off due to a disagreement over the level of the respective chief delegates. . Yonhap
2 Koreas call off inter-government talks over level of chief delegates
By Chung Min-uck
An inter-Korean meeting was called off Tuesday due to a disagreement over the level of their chief delegates, according to the Ministry of Unification.
The government-to-government talks, the first of their kind in six years, were scheduled to be held today in Seoul with high expectations that the dialogue could lead to easing tension on the Korean Peninsula.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Did N. Korea want meeting in the first place?
By Kim Tae-gyu
A careful look at how the inter-Korean talks slated for June 12 and 13 in Seoul came to be called off could make one wonder whether Pyongyang was serious about talking in the first place.
Above all, North Korea made a proposal for what would be the first meaningful talks in six years just ahead of a summit between the United States and China, its sole ally.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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How inter-Korean relationship shapes N. Korean movie spies
By Kwon Mee-yoo
It seems like filmmakers these days overuse North Korean spies like a bad chef does ketchup. But unlike the blockbusters from Hollywood, where agents from Pyongyang continue to be one-dimensional sources of disruption and nuclear terror, the movies of Chungmuro tend to portray North Koreans with a more delicate touch that often reflects real-life relations between the two Koreas.
Currently, the South Korean box office is occupied by three baby-faced North Korean spies appearing in the action-comedy ''Secretly Greatly.’’ The movie passed the 3 million audience record in its first five days, a record-breaking pace for a local movie.
[Propaganda]
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Still No Word Who Will Head N.Korean Team in Cross-Border Talks
Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae is expected to lead the South Korean delegation at Wednesday's ministerial talks with North Korea if Pyongyang sends someone of comparative rank and responsibilities.
Seoul had asked the North to send Kim Yang-gon, who heads the Workers Party's United Front Department, which deals with inter-Korean matters, but received no commitment. If the North sends a lower-ranking official, Seoul will reciprocate in kind.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Billions Found in Accounts of Ex-President's Driver
Prosecutors are investigating disgraced former president Roh Tae-woo after millions of dollars were found in bank accounts ostensibly belonging to his chauffeur.
Roh has failed to obey a court order to pay around W23.1 billion (US$1=W1,128) in restitution for a corruption conviction.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Monday said some W3 billion were found in nine separate bank accounts in the name of the driver. Prosecutors are investigating whether the money is in fact part of Roh's slush fund, since the driver earns only W39 million a year.
Last year, the National Tax Service audited a company owned by Roh's younger brother and found that around 78 percent of the bank accounts suspected to contain the ex-president's loot were in the driver's name. The driver was on the company's payroll from 1998 to July 2011 but actually worked for the former president.
The NTS found that a huge amount of cash was deposited into the driver's bank accounts starting in January of 2005 and then withdrawn in increments until October 2009.
Roh's aides claim the ex-president has no idea where the money may have come from.
[Roh Tae-woo] [Corruption]
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Inter-Korean talks no longer being called “minister-level”
Posted on : Jun.11,2013 15:41 KST
Change in the language used shows departure from pattern of ministerial talks under previous administrations
By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter
Questions are being raised over the meaning of the name change in the inter-Korean talks scheduled for June 12 in Seoul.
The Ministry of Unification said on June 10 that the two sides had agreed to “talks between government authorities.” The term was put in place of “ministerial talks,” which had been used during working-level meetings that started on June 9 and went into the next day between South and North in the South Korean area of Panmunjom Peace Village .
Chun Hae-sung, head of the Unification Ministry‘s policy office and the senior representative at those talks, told reporters at a June 10 briefing that the issue “had been raised by the North, and we agreed based on the idea that it was appropriate for formulating a new kind of inter-Korean relations and inter-Korean dialogue in a new era.”
[SK NK Negotiations]
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North and South Held Working-level Contact
Pyongyang, June 10 (KCNA) -- Working-level contact for the talks between authorities of the north and the south of Korea was made at Panmunjom Sunday and Monday.
At the contact both sides discussed working issues arising in opening the talks between authorities of the north and the south and adopted a press release.
According to the press release, it was decided to open the talks in Seoul on June 12 to run through June 13, 2013 and call them the talks between authorities of the north and the south.
It was agreed to discuss immediate and urgent matters concerning the inter-Korean relations including the issue of normalizing the operation of the Kaesong Industrial Zone, the issue of resuming the tour of Mt. Kumgang, the issue of reunion of separated families and their relatives and other humanitarian issues, the issue of jointly marking the June 15 and July 4 anniversaries and the issue of promoting non-governmental visits, contacts and cooperation projects.
It was decided that each delegation to the talks would comprise five delegates, the delegation of the north side would be headed by minister-level authorities and the delegation of the north side would travel to the south overland on the west coast.
It was decided to discuss additional working matters through Panmunjom hotline.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Who will be chief N. Korean delegate?
President Park Geun-hye talks during a weekly meeting with her senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. Park expressed her hope for progress in the June 12-13 government-to-government talks with North Korea in Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon
‘Inter-government’ talks due in Seoul June 12-13
By Chung Min-uck
Who will lead the North Korean delegation to the “government-to-government” talks in Seoul on June 12 and 13?
Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae is likely to be chief South Korean delegate.
But the North didn’t accept Seoul’s request for Kim Yang-gon, head of the North’s United Front Department of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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S. Korea, DPRK agree to hold government meeting
Xinhua, June 10, 2013
South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have agreed to hold a government meeting in Seoul later this week to resolve inter-Korean issues, media reported Monday.
The decision was made at the working-level talks between the two sides conducted at the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
The two sides have reached partial understanding at the talks, which opened the way for formal talks to be held between governments of both countries for the first time in several years, the report said.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Officials from 2 Koreas Lay Groundwork for Ministerial Talks
Mid-ranking North and South Korean officials met in the border truce village of Panmunjom and on Sunday to prepare the stage for ministerial talks that follow Wednesday.
Ministers from both sides met 21 times between July 2000 and June 2007 but not since then.
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk gave little away about the preparatory meeting, saying only officials "shared the same understanding in regards to the ministers' meeting."
The main disagreement seems to be over personalities. Seoul wanted as delegation leader Kim Yang-gon, who is a relatively moderate key figure in inter-Korean issues, but Pyongang refused to reveal who is going to be their chief representative.
When it came to the agenda, the North Korean negotiators insisted that the ministers must discuss the reopening of the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex, resumption of halted tours to the North's scenic Mt. Kumgang resort, reunion of families separated by the Korean War and joint hosting of ceremonies marking the historic inter-Korean summit on June 15, 2000.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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North and South Korea agree to hold ministerial meeting June 12-13
Posted on : Jun.10,2013 11:46 KSTModified on : Jun.10,2013 15:01 KST
Chun Hae-sung (left), head of the South Korean Unification Ministry’s policy office and Kim Sung-hye, a senior official in North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, hold working level inter-Korean talks at the Panmunjom Peace Village on June 9. (provided by the Ministry of Unification)
Extensive working-level talks leave unresolved issues with the agenda and representatives
By Hankyoreh English staff
North and South Korea agreed to hold a two-day meeting in Seoul between minister-level authorities on June 12 and 13.
The two sides agreed on the official name “inter-Korean authorities’ talks” at their working-level effort to arrange a ministerial meeting, which concluded early Monday morning at Panmunjeom. It was also announced that the North Korean delegation had agreed to travel overland by way of the Gyeongui railway line.
But the general meeting and eight conversations by the chief representatives, which lasted until well past midnight on Sunday, failed to produce a final agreement on the agenda or the status of the representatives appearing at the talks, prompting each side to issue a separate announcement on these terms (the third and fourth out of the statement’s six clauses).
[SK NK Negotiations]
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[Editorial] The inter-Korean trust-building process can now begin
Posted on : Jun.9,2013 11:12 KST
On June 7, the day after the South Korean government proposed that minister-level talks be held between North and South Korea in Seoul on June 12, Pyongyang responded by suggesting that working-level officials make contact on June 9. This is understood as indicating that the North wants an opportunity to verify South Korea’s sincerity, as well as examine questions of the agenda and location, before the talks begin. While the tight schedule could make it difficult to reach full consensus on all of the pressing issues that must be discussed, both sides must do their best so as not to squander this rare opportunity for dialogue.
The South Korean government must be careful not to rashly assume that it can do whatever it wants just because North Korea humbled itself and requested talks. This time, North Korea was the first to propose comprehensive talks. Some of the factors here appear to be North Korea’s strategic decision to focus on the economy and to move from confrontation to dialogue, as well as the pressure from the international community to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Overture]
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Two Koreas agree to hold government meeting in Seoul
South and North Korea came to an agreement Monday to hold an official government meeting between "responsible authorities" in Seoul later this week with the aim of resolving pressing inter-Korean issues that can help build mutual trust and ease uncertainties on the Korean Peninsula.
The Ministry of Unification said in a statement released after a marathon negotiation lasting 17 hours that the two sides reached a partial understanding on outstanding issues at the working-level talks carried out at the truce village of Panmunjom.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Pastor Cho in trouble
Cho Yong-gi
Korean Christianity's illness befalls Full Gospel Church
By Kim Tong-hyung
Prosecutors will chase the leader of world’s largest Christian congregation for allegedly stealing tens of billions of won in worshippers’ money and underpaying taxes.
Their decision to indict Cho Yong-gi, founder and pastor of the Yoido Full Gospel Church, on Saturday was another kick in the teeth for the country’s mighty but increasingly unpopular protestant church, frequently described as greedy, dishonest and socially regressive.
Cho and some members of the church’s senior leadership have fallen out spectacularly in recent years as the 77-year-old minister came under constant accusations of corruption and nepotism.
A group of church elders in 2011 filed a complaint with prosecutors claiming that Cho diverted more than 20 billion Korean won (about $18 million) in the church’s fund to acquire the stocks of a company owned by his son, Hee-jun, at prices dramatically higher than market value in 2002.
The younger Cho, former chairman of the church-affiliated newspaper Kookmin Ilbo, currently serving a jail term for an unrelated financial crime, had sustained heavy losses from stock investments then.
[Religion] [Corruption]
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Rival Koreas' first talks in two years go through the night
By Jung Ha-Won (AFP) – 2 hours ago
SEOUL — North and South Korea's first official talks for more than two years dragged into the early hours of Monday morning, as they struggled to set up a high-level meeting after months of tensions and threats of nuclear war.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Media]
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‘US opposes formal North-South peace treaty’ - Pyongyang
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Published time: May 29, 2013 13:48
North Korea, which has been unpredictable in its rhetorical outbursts of late, expressed its desire for an official peace treaty with South Korea. The two nations have been officially at war since the start of the Korean War in 1950.
[Media]
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ROK, DPRK end morning working contact
Xinhua, June 9, 2013
South Korea and the Democratic People 's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held working-level talks on Sunday morning at Panmunjom border village, the first inter-governmental talks in over two years.
South Korean Unification Ministry held a press briefing shortly after the morning talks concluded. The spokesman of the ministry said that the talks continued about one hour and concluded at around 11 am local time. During the talks, representatives discussed details about the upcoming ministerial meeting to be held in Seoul on Wednesday.
The exact schedule about the afternoon talks hasn't been set yet, according to the spokesman.
Chun Hae-sung, who is leading the three-person South Korean delegation, told reporters before leaving for the talks that every effort will be made to build trust that can lay the foundation for improving South-North relations.
Seoul has suggested the ministerial meeting after Pyongyang proposed holding inter-governmental talks on issues including the normalization of the operation in the Kaesong Industrial Zone (KIZ) and the resumption of tour of Mt. Kumgang on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the June 15 joint declaration.
The Panmunjom talks is aimed at preparing for the ministerial meeting.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Korean talks held in Panmunjom
Delegates from North and South meet in border village ahead of hoped-for ministerial talks that will seek thaw in relations
Associated Press in Seoul
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 9 June 2013 08.08 BST
North Korean delegate Kim Song-hye, right, is greeted by a South Korean official in Panmunjom
Government delegates from North and South Korea began preparatory talks Sunday at a "truce village" on their heavily armed border aimed at setting ground rules for a higher-level discussion on easing animosity and restoring stalled rapprochement projects.
The meeting at Panmunjom, where the truce ending the 1950-53 Korean War was signed, is the first of its kind on the Korean Peninsula in more than two years. Success will be judged on whether the delegates can pave the way for a summit between the ministers of each country's department for cross-border affairs, which South Korea has proposed for Wednesday in Seoul. Such ministerial talks have not happened since 2007.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Historian speaks on the need for peaceful reunification
Posted on : Jun.9,2013 08:36 KST
Kang Man-gil asks how long the peninsula can remain in this tense state, with young men still wasting years in the military
By Ahn Seon-hee, staff reporter
“Achieving Korean unification through war or absorption is impossible due to a geopolitical location between continental powers such as China and Russia, and maritime powers such as the US and Japan. Because of this location, there have been several occasions where our country faced the dangers of division before liberation in 1945. The reason why we study history is to accurately understand the status and position of our country in order to deal with the future”.
Veteran historian and honorary professor at Korea University Kang Man-gil, 80, recently released, The Pain of Division and History of Prospects for Unification, a historical narrative which is centered on key words such as division and unification from the 1894 Gapsin coup to the Lee Myung-bak administration. Kang has held various positions such as Professor of Korean History at Korea University, President at Sangji University, and Chairman of Truth Committee on Japanese Collaborators Anti-national Activities. Currently he is chairman of the board at Chungmyung.org. Some of his books include, Historical Awareness of the Era of Division, A Rewritten Modern Korean History, and A Rewritten Contemporary Korean History.
[Unification]
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Koreas in agreement on holding ministerial meeting in Seoul, exchange details on upcoming talks
South and North Korea are in agreement on holding a ministerial meeting in Seoul next week that can build mutual trust and ease uncertainties on the Korean Peninsula, a government official said Sunday.
In the morning session of the first government-level talks in years at the truce village of Panmunjom, the two sides exchanged views on protocol, location, the agenda and size of the delegation to be present at Wednesday's ministerial meeting planned for Seoul, the Ministry of Unification said.
"The two sides shared the same understanding in regards to the ministers' meeting," said ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk, stressing that both Seoul and Pyongyang wanted the meeting to take place.
[SK NK Negotiations]
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2013/06/141_137159.html
Korean film about N.K. spies tops 3 million in attendance
A South Korean comedy film about three young North Korean spies has exceeded the 3 million mark in the number of viewers at local theaters, the film's local distributor said Sunday.
"Secretly Greatly," which opened at 1,341 theaters across the country on Wednesday, passed the milestone in just five days, according to Mediaplex.
But the figure remains unofficial as the Korean Film Council that tracks official box-office data in the country has yet to release the latest information.
Based on a popular webtoon with the same title published in 2010, the movie is about three young and handsome North Korean spies dispatched to South Korea, disguising themselves as a fool, a rock star wannabe and a high school student.
Starring rising heartthrob Kim Soo-hyun, the movie topped the local box-office as of Saturday, accounting for 69 percent of tickets sold at theaters.
It also passed the break-even point, which stood at 2.2 million in attendance, just four days after opening, according to Mediaplex
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Seoul Must Go Prudently into Inter-Korean Talks
North Korea on Thursday proposed talks with South Korea to "normalize" the closed-down Kaesong Industrial Complex and resume tours to the scenic Mt. Kumgang resort. The offer marks the impending anniversary of the June 15, 2000 Joint Declaration. Seoul accepted, suggesting ministers from the two sides meet in Seoul next week. This would be the first ministerial talks since June 2007.
The North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said it had been "entrusted" with the proposal, suggesting that leader Kim Jong-un was behind it. It also wants to discuss reunion of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War and celebration to mark the first cross-border summit in 2000.
[SK NK negotiations]
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N. Korea agrees to hold working-level talks at Panmunjom
North Korea on Saturday agreed to hold working-level talks with South Korea at the truce village of Panmunjom to prepare for a planned ministerial dialogue between the two divided countries, officials here said.
The preparatory working-levels talks are now set for 10 a.m. Sunday at the Freedom House, an administrative building in the southern side of the joint security area, said the Unification Ministry officials.
The two Koreas have already agreed to hold a Cabinet-level meeting in Seoul on Wednesday. The Cabinet-level meeting, if held, will be the first of its kind since 2007.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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North and South Korea to begin talks Sunday in bid to ease tensions
Ahn Young-joon/AP - A South Korean military truck crosses Unification bridge, which leads to the demilitarized zone, near the border village of Panmunjom Friday, June 7, 2013. North Korea has agreed to talks with South Korea to be held in the border city on Sunday as the rivals look to mend ties that have plunged during recent years.
By Chico Harlan,
Saturday, June 8, 5:49 PM E-mail the writer
SEOUL — North and South Korea on Sunday will hold the first in a series of talks aimed at easing tensions and restarting the economic projects and exchange programs on which they once cooperated, South Korean officials said Saturday.
The talks mark the latest sign of rapprochement on the peninsula, a rapid turnaround from several months ago when the North cut off nearly all ties with its neighbor and threatened preemptive nuclear strikes in the region.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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South and North Korea agree to minister-level talks
Posted on : Jun.7,2013 11:40 KST
On the agenda would be normalization at Kaesong, tours to Mt. Keumgang and reunions for divided families
By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter and Seok Jin-hwan, Blue House correspondent
The South Korean government has accepted North Korea’s offer for talks between authorities, making a counter proposal that minister-level talks be held in Seoul on June 12. The move is being interpreted as revealing Park Geun-hye’s proactive intention to normalize inter-Korean relations.
The most recent South Korean government proposal for talks can be viewed as having considerable significance. The last time that the South Korean Minister of Unification participated in level talks was in June 2007, during the presidency of Roh Moo-hyun.
[SK NK negotiations]
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[Analysis] N. Korea makes multipurpose, conciliatory gesture before US-China summit
Posted on : Jun.7,2013 12:11 KSTModified on : Jun.7,2013 12:53 KST
An announcer on North Korea’s Korean Central Television reads a special statement from the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland conveying the news of North Korea’s offer to hold talks on commemorating the 13th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration, normalizing operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex and restarting tourist trips to Mt. Keumgang.
Meeting could restore relations that have been uncooperative since the enactment of the May 24 measures in 2010
By Kang Tae-ho, senior staff writer
North Korea made a surprise June 6 proposal for talks between government authorities, and South Korea responded affirmatively by proposing a minister-level meeting.
With dialogue back on track between the two sides, observers are expecting efforts to resume North Korea-US dialogue and the six-party talks on the nuclear issue to also gain traction. The question now is whether this marks a first step in easing the old hostility and frictions between the two sides through dialogue and reconciliation.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Overture]
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CPRK Special Statement Proposes Talks between Authorities of North, South
Pyongyang, June 6 (KCNA) -- The spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) released the following special statement Thursday:
It is 13 years since the publication of the historic June 15 joint declaration.
All the Koreans still remember the June 15 era when the spirit for national reunification ran high all over the country and are ardently wishing for the earlier improvement of the north-south relations and opening of a new phase for reunification.
[SK NK Negotiations] [Overture]
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Seoul proposes ministers' talks
Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap
Responding to N. Korean offer, South asks for June 12 meeting here
By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea proposed holding ministers' talks with North Korea next week in Seoul, Thursday, on the reopening of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and Mt. Geumgang tours.
The proposal was made seven hours after the North surprisingly offered a working-level meeting with the South. The North also offered to let Seoul decide the venue and date at its convenience.
[SK NK negotiations]
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North Korea calls for talks with South Korea about industrial park
By Jung-yoon Choi and Barbara Demick,
Friday, June 7, 10:23 AM
SEOUL — In a sudden change of heart, North Korea called Thursday for talks with South Korea about reopening a shuttered industrial park and restarting tourist exchanges and reunions of separated families.
Seoul almost immediately accepted, setting the stage for the first talks since the 20-something Kim Jong Un took over the leadership of North Korea after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December 2011.
North Korea analysts said the timing of the proposal was strategically planned, as it came a day ahead of President Obama’s meeting in California with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Xi met recently with a special envoy sent to Beijing by Kim and urged the North Koreans to drop their hostility toward Seoul
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Seoul Accepts N.Korean Talks Offer
North Korea on Thursday proposed ministerial talks with South Korea to discuss resuming stalled inter-Korean projects, from the Kaesong Industrial Complex and tours to Mt. Kumgang to reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean war.
Seoul accepted and suggested meeting in Seoul next Wednesday.
The North’s proposal came just a day before the leaders of the U.S. and China sit down for a summit and marks the impending anniversary of the June 15, 2000 Joint Declaration.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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N.Korean Agents 'Badgered Defectors in Laos into Submission'
Nine young North Korean defectors were not forcibly repatriated by Laos but succumbed to coercion and threats from North Korean agents and chose to return home, an activist said Thursday.
Kim Sung-min of Free North Korea Radio on Wednesday quoted a source in North Korea as saying five North Korean agents met the young refugees individually at the Lao immigration detention center every day between May 20 and May 27 to badger them into going back to the North.
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North Korea offers talks with south over Kaesong
Pyongyang prepared to discuss reopening joint industrial zone and restore communication channels
Reuters in Seoul
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 June 2013 06.32 BST
The roadblocks are raised at the entrance to Kaesong, on the South Korean side.
The roadblocks at the entrance to Kaesong, on the South Korean side. Photograph: Ahn Young-joon/AP
North Korea has proposed official talks with South Korea to normalise commercial projects, including the Kaesong industrial zone that was shut down at the height of tensions between the rivals in early April.
North Korea's state-owned KCNA news agency also said the government would restore severed communications channels if the south accepted the offer of talks, indicating it was prepared to roll back a series of steps it has taken since March that reinforced the deterioration in relations between the two sides.
North Korea, in a statement by its Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, which handles ties with the south, also proposed discussing the reopening of tours to a mountain resort, family reunions and events to mark the 2000 summit of the two countries' leaders that opened a decade of warmer ties.
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From financial hardship, defectors turn to false asylum
Posted on : Jun.6,2013 14:20 KST
After escaping from North to South Korea, some then seek a more comfortable life by making false asylum claims in the West
By Jung Hwan-bong and Heo Jae-hyun, staff reporters
In April 2004, she succeeded in defecting from North Korea. But once she arrived in the South Korea of her dreams, it was impossible to find a good job. During her eight years in the country, her only employment was a two-year stint as a masseuse at a skin care center. As she was struggling to keep food on the table, the woman, identified by her surname Choe, heard a rumor early last year about a way she could make some serious money: false asylum.
The broker instructed Choe (now 26) to take out 42 million won (US$37,500) in loans from various commercial and savings banks and private lenders by way of a "loan brokering office." After giving the broker a commission of about 13 million won (US$11,600), she boarded a plane to France on April 13, 2012.
She then paid another 3 million won (US$2,700) as additional commission to a broker in France before taking a train to Belgium. Hiding her South Korean passport, she presented herself as a recent defector and filed for asylum with the Belgian government. But after finishing just one of three rounds of interviews, she became worried about the uncertainty of the outcome and made her way back to South Korea in February.
[Refugee reception] [Refugee encouragement]
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S. Korea's Inhumane Allurement and Abduction of Youngsters of DPRK Denounced
Pyongyang, June 5 (KCNA) -- It was disclosed recently that the south Korean puppet group attempted to tempt and abduct many youngsters of the DPRK to take them to south Korea. A spokesman for the Central Committee of the DPRK Red Cross Society Wednesday made public a statement denouncing the unprecedented actions against humanity.
The south Korean authorities sent flesh traffic dealers under the guise of religionists to the northern border area of the DPRK to lure and abduct dozens of youngsters of the DPRK and detain them in a secret hide and commit all kinds of evil acts against them, the statement said, and went on:
These gangsters, who are old hands at inciting confrontation with fellow countrymen and hatching plots, forced the young people to recite bible and sing psalm in a bid to make them believe in God for two or three years, moving their lodgings several times to escape the control of a country concerned. They showed them undesirable films every day in a sinister attempt to hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK and its social system and persistently resorted to brainwashing in an effort to create illusion about south Korea.
When children refuse to properly receive religious education and brainwashing, these hooligans unhesitatingly beat them with iron-clubs and punished them.
The nine young people of the DPRK in question are just part of the victims of such abduction and brainwashing; the puppet group failed to carry out their sinister plan as they were checked while illegally taking the children to south Korea via foreign countries.
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S. Korea 'accepts' Pyongyang's Gaeseong complex, Mt. Kumgang talks proposal
South Korea on Thursday "effectively accepted" calls by North Korea to hold working-level talks between government officials aimed at normalizing stalled inter-Korean economic business ventures in Mt. Kumgang and the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
The Ministry of Unification that handles all dialogue and sets policies in regards to North Korea, said in a statement that the government views the North's latest proposal in a positive light.
"We hope (upcoming) talks will become an opportunity to help forge trust," it said. The ministry added that the agenda, date and place for the first talk will be announced later on, and said it is engaged in deliberations with the presidential office, foreign ministry and other related agencies.
Seoul's response, which came an hour after Pyongyang's surprise announcement, is expected to allow the two sides to sit down and discuss all outstanding issues that have strained cross-border relations and fueled uncertainties on the Korean Peninsula this year.
[SK NK Negotiations]
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Park for Park's father coming under fire
By Kim Jae-won
A Seoul district office that is considering constructing a memorial park for former President Park Chung-hee, is the target of strong criticism from local residents who accuse it of wasting money to glorify the authoritarian leader.
Jun-gu District in central Seoul said Wednesday that it will build a memorial park in memory of the ex-president who lived in the district for three years before he came to power after leading a coup d’etat in 1961.
[Park Chung-hee]
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Former spy agency chief faces arrest, indictment
By Kim Tae-gyu
Won Se-hoon
Former NIS chief
Won Se-hoon, the former head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), faces indictment on charges of having unlawfully intervened in the presidential election last year.
Officials at the prosecutors’ office said Wednesday that they reached a consensus on his indictment and are seeking an arrest warrant for Won.
The prosecution had to make a decision before the statute of limitations lapses on June 19, six months after the December 19 election.
Under the stewardship of Won, the nation’s spy agency is suspected of having posted comments critical of the main
opposition party’s candidate Moon Jae-in, the major rival of President Park Geun
[NIS]
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Koreas agree to hold talks on reopening jointly run complex after months of sinking relations
By Associated Press,
Updated: Thursday, June 6, 8:09 PM
SEOUL, South Korea — North and South Korea on Thursday agreed to hold talks on reopening a jointly run factory complex and possibly other issues, after months of deteriorating relations and a day before a U.S.-China summit in which the North is expected to be a key topic.
The envisioned talks could help rebuild avenues of inter-Korean cooperation that were obliterated in recent years amid hardline stances by both countries, though the key issue isolating the North from the world community — its nuclear program — is not up for debate.
The North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, in a statement carried by state media, said it is open to holding talks with Seoul on reopening the Kaesong complex just north of the Demilitarized Zone separating the countries
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Hallyu may lose popularity base in 5 years
By Baek Byung-yeul
Korea in the past years has invested Herculean efforts to extend the international boom for its cultural exports, dubbed "hallyu" (the Korean wave). However, there are increasing arguments that the government should relax its aggressive marketing as foreigners seem to be showing signs of recoiling from the smell of nationalism.
A survey of more than 3,600 people from Asian countries, Europe, the United States and Russia by the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) showed 66 percent of the respondents predicting hallyu will become irrelevant as a commercial force in their countries within the next four years. More than 15 percent of them believed hallyu has reached that point already.
[Hallyu] [Softpower]
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Nine N. Korean defectors originally headed for US, not S. Korea
The United States was the original destination for nine North Korean defectors who were eventually sent back to their communist homeland, a human rights activist here said Monday, refuting a claim that they hoped to seek asylum in South Korea.
Controversy persists over who is responsible for the forced repatriation of the nine North Koreans, mostly in their teens, last week. After crossing the border to China in 2011, they moved to Laos, a usual stop for North Korean defectors hoping to resettle in the U.S. or South Korea.
But they were caught by the Lao authorities in May and deported to China, which regards North Korean defectors as economic migrants, not asylum seekers.
In Seoul, Korean activist Kim Hee-tae claimed that the nine defectors initially planned to seek asylum in the U.S. but the destination was changed to South Korea after they were arrested in Laos.
Kim said Suzanne Scholte, the head of the Defense Forum Foundation and the North Korea Freedom Coalition in Washington, is partly to blame for the failed attempt to help the defectors, as she advised them to try to enter the U.S. Embassy in Laos.
"That's just not true, and I can actually provide the written emails that prove that what he's saying is absolutely untrue," Scholte told Yonhap News Agency by phone.
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China Casts More Doubt on Seoul's Defector Claims
Beijing received no requests from other countries to intervene and prevent the repatriation of nine North Korean defectors from Laos, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday.
"China hasn't received any requests by parties concerned to assist in the repatriation of these people," Hong Lei said in a daily briefing.
The statement casts further doubt on Seoul’s conflicting claims that on the one hand it did everything it could to prevent the repatriation of the nine young defectors and was on the other "trying to track them down" on the day they were being taken to North Korea through China.
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Ex-President's Son Set Up Paper Company in Tax Haven
Chun Doo-hwan (left) and Jae-kook Chun Doo-hwan (left) and Jae-kook
The eldest son of disgraced ex-president Chun Doo-hwan has been accused of setting up a shell company in an offshore tax haven.
Newstapa, a website run by the Korea Center for Investigative Journalism, said Monday that Chun Jae-kook established a paper company called Blue Adonis in the British Virgin Islands in 2004.
Prosecutors and tax and financial authorities promised to investigate Chun's financial activities. The investigation is expected to impact an epic ongoing probe of alleged slush funds amassed by the former president, who has failed to pay fines from previous convictions claiming he has almost no money left.
[Chun Doo-hwan] [Corruption]
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Evidence found of assets concealed by former president’s son
Posted on : Jun.4,2013 15:05 KSTModified on : Jun.4,2013 15:06 KST
Son of Chun Doo-hwan apparently set up a paper company in a tax haven while investigation was going on
By Ko Na-mu and Song Kyung-hwa, staff reporters
Controversy has been spurred by revelations that the eldest son of former President Chun Doo-hwan set up a paper company in a tax haven during a 2004 investigation into his father’s slush fund.
Some are now questioning whether Chun Jae-guk, 54, set up the paper company as a way of hiding his father’s assets. The timing of the company’s establishment also matches information about other assets of the former President‘s that came into the spotlight during the investigation and trial of second-son Jae-yong, 49, on charges of tax evasion.[Chun Doo-hwan] [Corruption]
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Controversy over museum’s skewed presentation of Korean history
Posted on : Jun.3,2013 11:13 KST
Then-President Lee Myung-bak listens to a guide’s explanation of exhibits at the National Museum Of Korean Contemporary History, Dec. 26, 2012. Lee pushed for the museum to be opened before the end of his term as president, so it would go down as his accomplishment. (Blue House photo pool)
Scholars say contemporary history museum has factual errors and overstates the role of big business in Korean development
By Ahn Seon-hee, staff reporter
Scholars at a recent debate spoke out against the National Museum Of Korean Contemporary History (NMKCH), which they said has a number of inaccuracies in its exhibits and could cause problems with social unity due to its conservative bias.
The speakers at the debate called for a name change and a reconsideration of the operational authority and its methods for the museum, whose opening late last year was plagued by controversy.
The debate, titled “What’s the Problem with NMKCH?” was held on May 31 at the National Assembly Member’s Hall in Seoul’s Yeouido neighborhood by Solidarity for National Historical Justice.
One of the speakers, Yonsei University history professor Kim Seong-bo, said the museum’s 2012 construction represented a “grand coalition of historical perceptions between the New Right and Old Right.”
[Propaganda] [Lee Myung-bak]
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Pres. Park criticizes N. Korea for inviting citizens, but not agreeing to government talks
On upcoming visit to China, Park says she will “speak frankly” about the North Korea issue
By Seok Jin-hwan, Blue House correspondent
President Park Geun-hye declared on May 31 that dialogue between governments was "the way to build trust between North and South [Korea] and develop a normal relationship" on issues such as the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
Her remarks were interpreted as a direct signal that the administration is insisting on any dialogue between the two sides taking place between government authorities. They came after North Korea recently announced it would allow Kaesong Complex businessmen to visit the complex and proposed holding civilian events to celebrate the June 15 Declaration of 2000.
Park's statement came at a luncheon with reporters at the Blue House’s Nokjiwon Garden to commemorate her upcoming 100th day in office.
[Park Geun-hye] [SK NK policy] [Kaesong] [Summit01]
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“New Right” textbooks present a distorted view of history
Posted on : Jun.1,2013 15:54 KST
The 1980 Gwangju massacre
If passed into high schools, students will have to read inaccurate accounts of important Korean historical figures and events
By Kim Ji-hoon and Um Seung-won, staff reporters
History is the battle over memory. And the Koreans who are trying to change those memories, the so-called “New Right”, have just fired the latest volley in this battle. Their target this time is high school textbooks. If the textbooks that these groups have written are selected to be used, there is no question that history education in high school will be disturbed.
The Korean history textbooks written by New Right scholars and published by Kyohak passed the first review by the history textbook reviewing committee of the National Institute of Korean History on May 10 and are currently being edited and supplemented. The final decision will be made about whether the textbooks are to be passed on August 30.
There has not been a single case of a textbook passing the first review and being rejected in the final review. It looks likely that students will soon be reading textbooks tainted with the historical views of the New Right.
[Propaganda] [Dictatorships]
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[Editorial] Put pride aside to get Kaesong operating again
Posted on : May.30,2013 16:16 KST
On May 28, North Korea released a statement in the name of the spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF) indicating that it wanted to hold talks for normalizing operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, but the South Korean government rejected this straight away. We hope that the government will reverse its position and allow the talks to take place.
The reason the government gave for turning down the offer for talks is that Pyongyang is avoiding inter-governmental talks and trying to deal directly with the businesspeople who run companies at Kaesong and the representatives of the Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee (KIDMAC).
[Kaesong] [Rebuff]
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[Column] Trust is a product of dialogue, not a requirement for it
Posted on : Jun.1,2013 16:01 KST
President Park’s “trusting-building process” for North Korea will go nowhere if she insists on somehow building trust before dialogue
By Kim Yeon-chul, Inje University professor
The Park Geun-hye administration keeps talking about a "trust-building process," but what we're seeing right now in inter-Korean relations is the building of distrust. How are we to read this conflict between words about trust and a reality of distrust? It will soon be 100 days since Park took office, but her performance to date suggests that those tiny hopes that her administration might be different from predecessor Lee Myung-bak's were unfounded.
What is the problem? It may be the government fundamentally misunderstands the concept of trust.
[Park Geun-hye] [Continuity]
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Foreign Ministers of 2 Koreas May Meet at Asian Regional Forum
There is a good chance that the foreign ministers of North and South Korea will meet on the sidelines of the Asian Regional Forum in Brunei in July.
The Foreign Ministry on Thursday said Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will attend the ARF in Brunei's capital of Bandar Seri Begawan on July 2. North Korea, which became an official member of the ARF in 2000, is expected to send Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun.
"Yun is not going to avoid meeting Pak," a Foreign Ministry official said. It would mark the first meeting between the foreign ministers of the two Koreas since the inauguration of President Park Geun-hye.
In 2011, North and South Korea managed to ease tensions when their foreign ministers met at the ARF in Bali, Indonesia. Wi Sung-lac, South Korea’s representative to the six-party talks at the time, also met with the North's Vice Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho on the sidelines of that forum.
"With the appointment of Cho Tae-yong as the new chief negotiator for the six-party talks, the [South Korean] Foreign Ministry strongly believes in the need to resolve tensions through diplomacy," a diplomatic source in Seoul said.
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North ice-breaker proposed in June
May 24,2013
A nongovernmental North Korean organization proposed a joint event to its counterpart in the South to mark the June 15, 2000 Declaration in Kaesong or in Mount Kumgang, a gesture to thaw frozen-over inter-Korean relations.
The All Korean Committee For Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration’s North Korean branch sent a fax to the Southern branch Wednesday to propose a joint commemoration of the upcoming anniversary of the declaration made during the summit between former leaders Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il. The declaration was a milestone in cooperation between the two Koreas during Kim Dae-jung’s so-called Sunshine Policy of engagement.
“We will soon have the 13th anniversary of the historical announcement of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration,” the one-page fax read. “However, for the past five years, the joint declaration was totally denied and inter-Korean relations were entirely destroyed .?.?. the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which is a precious achievement of the joint declaration, is also at risk of a permanent shutdown.
[NK SK policy] [Overture] [Summit01]
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