ROK renews call for inter-Korean talks over tour
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Xinhua, July 29, 2011
South Korea on Friday renewed its call on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to come to the negotiating table over their joint tour program. "The government expressed regret over North Korea (DPRK)'s rejection of a proposed inter-Korean meeting, and urged the North to respond to our calls for talks over tours to Kumgang," unification ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters.
Chun was referring to suspended tours to the scenic mountain north of the border. The DPRK seized South Korean-owned properties at a resort there in a unilateral move last year.
Earlier this week, Seoul proposed a working-level meeting between officials from the two Koreas to discuss South Korean- owned assets at a tourist resort at Mount Kumgang, which the DPRK is threatening to dispose of.
Pyongyang, in response, said it is only willing to hold a meeting as long as South Korean businessmen are also brought to the talks, which Seoul considers a practical rejection of its offer for dialogue.
The renewed call came on the day Pyongyang set as a deadline for resolving the dispute over seized properties, though Seoul dismisses the deadline as a unilateral measure.
Tours to Mount Kumgang, just north of the border, were suspended in 2008 after a shooting death of a South Korean tourist there. Seoul has long refused to reopen the tours without a proper investigation into the shooting death and safety guarantees.
Pyongyang, claiming it has done enough, unilaterally seized South Korean properties 325.5 million U.S. dollars and terminated its deal with Seoul-based Hyundai Asan, a tour operator.
