N. Korea proposes inter-Korean talks on cross-border tours

(ATTN: UPDATES with additional information)
SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Saturday that it has proposed
government-level talks with South Korea later this month to discuss possible
resumption of cross-border tours to its Mount Kumgang.
The proposal came one day after the two Koreas agreed in Red Cross talks to hold
reunions of families separated by the division of the Koreas.
"As discussed at the Red Cross meeting between North and South Korea on Oct. 1,
(the North) proposed holding talks between the governments of North and South
Korea in Kaesong on Oct. 15 to discuss issues of South Korean facilities at Mount
Kumgang and resumption of tours," a report by the North's Korean Central News
Agency said.
The proposal was made in a message sent to South Korea's Unification Ministry on
Saturday, the report said.
North Korean delegates to this week's Red Cross talks demanded Seoul resume its
cross-border tours to Mount Kumgang, but South Korean officials refused to tie
the issue to family reunions, only saying Seoul will consider holding separate
talks, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said earlier.
Visits by South Korean tourists to the North Korean mountain were suspended in
2008 after a South Korean woman wandered into a restricted area there and was
shot dead.
Angry with the suspension of the lucrative tours, Pyongyang either froze or
seized all South Korean facilities at Mount Kumgang earlier this year.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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