ID :
188765
Wed, 06/15/2011 - 12:29
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/188765
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea says N. Korea proposed secret meeting first
(ATTN: UPDATES with comments by opposition leader and North Korea in paras 7-14)
By Kim Kwang-tae
SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's point man on North Korea said Wednesday that Pyongyang first proposed a secret meeting that has become the latest hurdle in inter-Korean relations.
The two Koreas have accused each other of distorting the facts of their secret meeting in Beijing in May after Pyongyang revealed details of the meeting earlier this month.
The North claimed Seoul negotiators had "begged" for three inter-Korean summits and offered an envelope of cash as an inducement, allegations dismissed by Seoul.
South Korea said the meeting was designed to get North Korea to apologize for its two deadly attacks on the South last year, as part of Seoul's efforts to break the current impasse and put inter-Korean ties back on track.
"It was North Korea that made the offer for the unannounced contact," Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said in a parliamentary session.
He said the North's disclosure of the meeting was aimed at getting Seoul into trouble and splitting public opinion in the South.
Still, Sohn Hak-kyu, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, urged the two Koreas to put aside differences and pursue a summit again.
Sohn made the comment near the border with North Korea to mark the 11th anniversary of a landmark summit that led to reconciliation and cross-border projects, which have since stalled.
North Korea pressed South Korea to honor the spirit of the landmark summit.
"The implementation of the joint declaration is the only way of overcoming the present reality in which the situation is inching close to an armed conflict," a North Korean committee said in an appeal carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
The two Koreas also held a summit in 2007, but their relations have frayed badly since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul a year later with a policy to link aid to progress in ending the North's nuclear ambitions.
Tensions have soared on the peninsula since the sinking of a South Korean warship in March of last year, blamed on the North. Pyongyang also shelled a South Korean border island in November.
North Korea has spurned Seoul's long-standing demand that Pyongyang take responsibility for the attacks that killed a total of 50 South Koreans. The standoff has kept the two sides from moving their relations forward for more than a year.
Also Wednesday, conservative activists sent some 180,000 leaflets calling for the scrapping of the summit accord. Liberal activists held a separate ceremony near the border. No clashes were reported.
By Kim Kwang-tae
SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's point man on North Korea said Wednesday that Pyongyang first proposed a secret meeting that has become the latest hurdle in inter-Korean relations.
The two Koreas have accused each other of distorting the facts of their secret meeting in Beijing in May after Pyongyang revealed details of the meeting earlier this month.
The North claimed Seoul negotiators had "begged" for three inter-Korean summits and offered an envelope of cash as an inducement, allegations dismissed by Seoul.
South Korea said the meeting was designed to get North Korea to apologize for its two deadly attacks on the South last year, as part of Seoul's efforts to break the current impasse and put inter-Korean ties back on track.
"It was North Korea that made the offer for the unannounced contact," Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said in a parliamentary session.
He said the North's disclosure of the meeting was aimed at getting Seoul into trouble and splitting public opinion in the South.
Still, Sohn Hak-kyu, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, urged the two Koreas to put aside differences and pursue a summit again.
Sohn made the comment near the border with North Korea to mark the 11th anniversary of a landmark summit that led to reconciliation and cross-border projects, which have since stalled.
North Korea pressed South Korea to honor the spirit of the landmark summit.
"The implementation of the joint declaration is the only way of overcoming the present reality in which the situation is inching close to an armed conflict," a North Korean committee said in an appeal carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
The two Koreas also held a summit in 2007, but their relations have frayed badly since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul a year later with a policy to link aid to progress in ending the North's nuclear ambitions.
Tensions have soared on the peninsula since the sinking of a South Korean warship in March of last year, blamed on the North. Pyongyang also shelled a South Korean border island in November.
North Korea has spurned Seoul's long-standing demand that Pyongyang take responsibility for the attacks that killed a total of 50 South Koreans. The standoff has kept the two sides from moving their relations forward for more than a year.
Also Wednesday, conservative activists sent some 180,000 leaflets calling for the scrapping of the summit accord. Liberal activists held a separate ceremony near the border. No clashes were reported.
