S. Korea proposes further talks with N. Korea over seized assets

SEOUL, July 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has proposed holding another round of talks with North Korea to resolve an ongoing dispute over the handling of seized South Korean assets at a North Korean mountain resort, an official said Monday.
The South's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, sent the North a notice earlier in the day, proposing that officials from the two sides meet Friday at the resort on Mount Kumgang for a third round of talks, Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said during a regular briefing.



A delegation of South Korean government officials and businessmen has traveled twice to the North since late June after the communist state threatened to dispose of South Korean assets at the scenic resort. North Korea seized some of the assets last year, apparently in anger over the South's termination of joint tour programs there, which used to serve as a cash cow for the impoverished nation.
This time, Seoul suggested that the issue be discussed at the government level, according to a ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A resumption of the suspended tours may also be on the agenda, the official added.
South Korea has invested tens of millions of dollars in building hotels, restaurants and a golf course at the resort since 1998 when the North opened it for South Korean tourists. Seoul halted the tour programs in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean female tourist at the resort.
North Korea has since unilaterally terminated exclusive tourism rights for Hyundai Asan, a South Korean tour operator, and announced a law designed to develop the resort as a special zone for international tours instead.



Meanwhile, the ministry said it approved a civilian request to send flour aid to vulnerable North Koreans, giving permission for the first time since the North's deadly shelling of a southern island last November. Starting in March, the ministry began selectively allowing private groups to provide aid for North Koreans, but flour was an exception.
"We have been reviewing requests to send flour aid based on guarantees of transparent distribution," the ministry said. "The civic groups last week sent us details of their negotiations with the North on who will receive the aid, their distribution plans and on-site monitoring of the distribution sites."
Transparency has been a major concern in sending food aid to the North, where many of the supplies are reportedly diverted to the military or ruling elites.
The South's Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC), a coalition of pro-unification civic and social groups, said it will send 300 tons of flour on Tuesday to daycare centers, kindergartens and children's hospitals in the North, while the Catholic Church said it plans to send 100 tons of flour to hospitals on Thursday.
"We decided to send 2,500 tons of flour to the North, so we plan to send 300 to 400 tons every week," a KCRC official said on the condition of anonymity.
The South Korean government has yet to resume sending large-scale food aid as tensions with the North linger over the bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island and the sinking of a South Korean warship last year. The two attacks killed a total of 50 South Koreans.
The European Union, however, announced early this month that it will deliver aid worth 10 million euros to help feed 650,000 North Koreans.