NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 168

(July 28, 2011) *** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS N. Korea Conditionally Agrees to Meet with S. Korea over Seized Assets SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea conditionally accepted South Korea's proposal to hold talks to resolve an ongoing dispute over the handling of seized South Korean assets at a North Korean mountain resort, Seoul's unification ministry said on July 26. The North sent the South a notice earlier in the day that business representatives should be brought to the talks, according to the ministry. Earlier on July 25, 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 on July 29 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 socialist 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. ------------------------ Civic Groups in Seoul Deliver Rare Flour Aid to North Korea SEOUL (Yonhap) -- A team of civic group officials on July 26 delivered 300 tons of flour aid for vulnerable North Koreans in what became the first dispatch of flour since the North's deadly attack on a South Korean island. The six-member delegation, including officials from the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC) and the Join Together Society (JTS), handed over the flour, carried on 12 trucks, after crossing into the North Korean border city of Kaesong by land. It was the first delivery of flour to the impoverished nation since the Korean Methodist Church gave 36 tons last November, shortly before the North bombarded the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, killing two marines and two civilians. Seoul halted all forms of aid in the wake of the attack, although in March, it began to selectively allow private groups to provide aid for poverty-stricken North Koreans. Flour had been an exception on concerns that it may be diverted to the military or ruling elites, but the government gave approval Monday amid budding signs of a thaw in inter-Korean relations. The KCRC, a coalition of pro-unification civic and social groups, said the flour will be distributed to daycare centers, kindergartens and children's hospitals in the city of Sariwon, North Hwanghae Province. It plans to send a total of 2,500 tons of flour for 82,000 North Koreans by the end of August, and send monitors to the site to ensure fair distribution. The July 26 flour aid worth 180 million won (US$171,200) was donated by the KCRC and the JTS, as well as numerous relief agencies such as Good Neighbors, World Vision and Korea Food for the Hungry International. "I hope this flour will become the flour of life for North Koreans who are at risk of losing their lives, and also the flour of reconciliation in mending ties between the South and the North," said Kim Deog-ryong, the standing chairman of the KCRC. He was speaking at a send-off ceremony held in the tourism pavilion of Imjingak in the South's border city of Paju. The South Korean government has yet to resume sending large-scale food aid as tensions with the North linger over the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island and the sinking of a South Korean warship last year. The two attacks killed a total of 50 South Koreans. Seoul has also tied aid to the North's denuclearization efforts since the Lee Myung-bak administration came to power in 2008. Meanwhile, the European Union announced early this month that it will deliver aid worth 10 million euros to help feed 650,000 North Koreans. ------------------------ S. Korea Mulls Sending Anti-malaria Supplies to N. Korea SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea is considering allowing a civic organization to provide anti-malaria supplies to North Korea, the aid group said on July 27. The move comes a day after other private groups trucked 300 tons of flour to the North for the first time since the North's deadly shelling of a front-line South Korean island last year. South Korea imposed sanctions on the North last year in retaliation for the November attack and the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. The two attacks killed 50 South Koreans and heightened public animosity against Pyongyang, though Seoul has selectively approved humanitarian and medical aid to North Korea. The Korean Sharing Movement has requested that the government approve the shipment of two pieces of ultrasonic diagnostic equipment to the North, according to the civic group. Under the current law, South Koreans are required to get the government's endorsement before meeting with North Koreans and giving aid to the North. No malaria deaths have been reported in North Korea for nearly two decades, though there were more than 14,840 probable and confirmed malaria cases in 2009, according to the World Health Organization. Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said the government will review whether to approve the shipment. South Korea has previously provided the North with anti-malaria aid.