ID :
194935
Thu, 07/14/2011 - 05:49
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https://oananews.org//node/194935
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Red Cross Officials of Two Koreas Hold Informal Talks in China
NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 166 (July 14, 2011)
*** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS
Red Cross Officials of Two Koreas Hold Informal Talks in China
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Red Cross officials from the two Koreas held informal talks on the sidelines of an international conference in China last week, a South Korean Red Cross official said on July 11.
Kim Yong-hyun, secretary-general of the South's Red Cross, and Paek Yong-ho, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Red Cross Society of North Korea, met during breaks at the East Asian regional Red Cross leadership meeting in Ordos City, located in China's Inner Mongolia, between July 5 to 7, the official said on the condition of anonymity.
"Secretary-general Kim said there should be dialogue and exchanges between Red Cross officials of the two sides, despite the strain in inter-Korean relations," said the official, who also attended the conference. "To this, Vice Chairman Paek responded that he should not make such comments at an international conference, but rather deliver an official proposal."
On the socialist state's food situation, a different official from the North's Red Cross said that the North Korean people were surviving on one meal per day due to severe food shortages, the South Korean official said. His remarks came as the European Commission announced last week a decision to provide the impoverished state with aid worth 10 million euros that would help feed 650,000 people.
The South Korean official, however, played down the significance of the informal talks, saying they only discussed humanitarian issues relevant to the Red Cross, such as food aid and reunions of families separated by the Korean War.
Talks between officials of the two Koreas have been rare following the North's two deadly attacks against the South last year. A total of 50 South Koreans were killed in the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and the artillery shelling of the South's border island of Yeonpyeong.
------------------------
Koreas Fail to Make Breakthrough on Mt. Kumgang Assets Disposal
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea on July 13 failed to make progress in their second meeting on the fate of seized South Korean assets at a scenic mountain resort in the North. Nevertheless, there appears to be some room for further discussion later this month as the North showed flexibility.
During the one-day session held at Mount Kumgang, North Korea repeated its threat to dispose of South Korean property at the jointly run resort unless the involved South Korean firms come up with plans to handle their assets there.
North Korean officials had demanded South Korea take part in their new plan to turn the resort into an international tourism hub or it would sell or rent the South Korean assets to a third party, according to South Korean government officials.
The North said the investors, including Hyundai Asan, the operator of the Mount Kumgang project, must deliver their plans by July 29, according to a release from the Ministry of Unification. North Korean officials said their country will follow through on their threat unless South Korea contacts the North by July 29 for another consultation, according to the South Korean officials.
The development is likely to further strain relations between the two countries amid lingering tensions over Pyongyang's two deadly attacks on the South last year.
Also, Pyongyang's demand diminished hope that the sides could hammer out their differences over the stalled joint tourism project in the immediate future.
South Korea will review the North's proposal for consultation, an official said. He said South Korean officials told the North not to take any unilateral action to dispose of the assets, noting the North's new law violates inter-Korean deals and infringes on property rights of South Korean investors.
South Korea has invested tens of millions of dollars in hotels, restaurants and a golf course at the resort since 1998 when the North opened it for South Korean tourists.
However, the lucrative program came to a halt in 2008 when a South Korean tourist was shot dead after apparently straying out of the resort area. Seoul wants an apology for the incident and security guarantees before participating in any reconciliatory project.
Earlier this year, the North unilaterally terminated exclusive tourism rights for Hyundai Asan, a key South Korean tour operator at the resort. However, it later announced a law designed to develop the resort as a special zone for international tours.
In the previous talks, Pyongyang demanded on June 29 that South Korean contractors come to the North to "settle their belongings" by July 13, but Seoul requested the two parties talk first.
Ten officials and businesspeople from the South crossed the border into the North earlier in the day for the second session. Seoul said it would continue efforts to resolve the issue through government-led consultations involving the firms.
The first round of talks on June 29 ended in less than three hours as the North refused to meet with South Korean government officials.
The North has been pressuring Seoul to resume the tours in a bid to buoy its economy, hobbled by international sanctions.
In frustration, it seized or froze several South Korea-owned properties last year, and last month passed a law to develop the site as a special zone for international tours.
But North Korea indicated its intention to hold additional consultations with the South over the disposal of the South Korean-held properties.
In a dispatch from its official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the North disclosed that it intends to hold another round of consultations later this month.
Accusing the South Korean officials who came to the mountain resort of having a "reckless and dishonest attitude," the KCNA reported that the North said that it would hold another round of negotiations "if the businessmen of the South side go back and make further study to have their stand."
"It declared it would legally dispose of the real estate of the South side as already proclaimed by it, should the South side not clarify its stand till the end of July," according to the KCNA. "Those concerned of the authorities of the South side said they would go back, make a report to their superiors and notify the North side of the stand on the next negotiations through an appropriate channel."
*** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS
Red Cross Officials of Two Koreas Hold Informal Talks in China
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Red Cross officials from the two Koreas held informal talks on the sidelines of an international conference in China last week, a South Korean Red Cross official said on July 11.
Kim Yong-hyun, secretary-general of the South's Red Cross, and Paek Yong-ho, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Red Cross Society of North Korea, met during breaks at the East Asian regional Red Cross leadership meeting in Ordos City, located in China's Inner Mongolia, between July 5 to 7, the official said on the condition of anonymity.
"Secretary-general Kim said there should be dialogue and exchanges between Red Cross officials of the two sides, despite the strain in inter-Korean relations," said the official, who also attended the conference. "To this, Vice Chairman Paek responded that he should not make such comments at an international conference, but rather deliver an official proposal."
On the socialist state's food situation, a different official from the North's Red Cross said that the North Korean people were surviving on one meal per day due to severe food shortages, the South Korean official said. His remarks came as the European Commission announced last week a decision to provide the impoverished state with aid worth 10 million euros that would help feed 650,000 people.
The South Korean official, however, played down the significance of the informal talks, saying they only discussed humanitarian issues relevant to the Red Cross, such as food aid and reunions of families separated by the Korean War.
Talks between officials of the two Koreas have been rare following the North's two deadly attacks against the South last year. A total of 50 South Koreans were killed in the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and the artillery shelling of the South's border island of Yeonpyeong.
------------------------
Koreas Fail to Make Breakthrough on Mt. Kumgang Assets Disposal
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea on July 13 failed to make progress in their second meeting on the fate of seized South Korean assets at a scenic mountain resort in the North. Nevertheless, there appears to be some room for further discussion later this month as the North showed flexibility.
During the one-day session held at Mount Kumgang, North Korea repeated its threat to dispose of South Korean property at the jointly run resort unless the involved South Korean firms come up with plans to handle their assets there.
North Korean officials had demanded South Korea take part in their new plan to turn the resort into an international tourism hub or it would sell or rent the South Korean assets to a third party, according to South Korean government officials.
The North said the investors, including Hyundai Asan, the operator of the Mount Kumgang project, must deliver their plans by July 29, according to a release from the Ministry of Unification. North Korean officials said their country will follow through on their threat unless South Korea contacts the North by July 29 for another consultation, according to the South Korean officials.
The development is likely to further strain relations between the two countries amid lingering tensions over Pyongyang's two deadly attacks on the South last year.
Also, Pyongyang's demand diminished hope that the sides could hammer out their differences over the stalled joint tourism project in the immediate future.
South Korea will review the North's proposal for consultation, an official said. He said South Korean officials told the North not to take any unilateral action to dispose of the assets, noting the North's new law violates inter-Korean deals and infringes on property rights of South Korean investors.
South Korea has invested tens of millions of dollars in hotels, restaurants and a golf course at the resort since 1998 when the North opened it for South Korean tourists.
However, the lucrative program came to a halt in 2008 when a South Korean tourist was shot dead after apparently straying out of the resort area. Seoul wants an apology for the incident and security guarantees before participating in any reconciliatory project.
Earlier this year, the North unilaterally terminated exclusive tourism rights for Hyundai Asan, a key South Korean tour operator at the resort. However, it later announced a law designed to develop the resort as a special zone for international tours.
In the previous talks, Pyongyang demanded on June 29 that South Korean contractors come to the North to "settle their belongings" by July 13, but Seoul requested the two parties talk first.
Ten officials and businesspeople from the South crossed the border into the North earlier in the day for the second session. Seoul said it would continue efforts to resolve the issue through government-led consultations involving the firms.
The first round of talks on June 29 ended in less than three hours as the North refused to meet with South Korean government officials.
The North has been pressuring Seoul to resume the tours in a bid to buoy its economy, hobbled by international sanctions.
In frustration, it seized or froze several South Korea-owned properties last year, and last month passed a law to develop the site as a special zone for international tours.
But North Korea indicated its intention to hold additional consultations with the South over the disposal of the South Korean-held properties.
In a dispatch from its official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the North disclosed that it intends to hold another round of consultations later this month.
Accusing the South Korean officials who came to the mountain resort of having a "reckless and dishonest attitude," the KCNA reported that the North said that it would hold another round of negotiations "if the businessmen of the South side go back and make further study to have their stand."
"It declared it would legally dispose of the real estate of the South side as already proclaimed by it, should the South side not clarify its stand till the end of July," according to the KCNA. "Those concerned of the authorities of the South side said they would go back, make a report to their superiors and notify the North side of the stand on the next negotiations through an appropriate channel."
