ID :
204924
Fri, 09/02/2011 - 16:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/204924
The shortlink copeid
Seoul allows first religious visit to N. Korea since deadly attacks: official
(ATTN: UPGRADES with attribution in headline, throughout; ADDS details, background)
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- The government will allow some 30 people from South Korea's largest Buddhist sect to visit North Korea this week, an official said Friday, the first religious trip to the communist nation since its deadly attacks on the South last year.
Venerable Jaseung, the head of the Jogye Order, and 36 other members of the sect plan to fly to Pyongyang via Beijing on Saturday and stay in the North Korean capital until Wednesday, according to the official from the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
During their stay, the Buddhists plan to visit a temple about two hours north of Pyongyang and hold a service marking the 1,000th anniversary since the engraving of the Tripitaka Koreana, a set of 80,000 wooden plates carved with Buddhist scripture. The service will be held jointly with North Korean Buddhists.
"The government approved the visit because its purpose is purely religious, and because this year marks the 1,000th anniversary since the engraving of the Palmandaejanggyeong, our national heritage," the official said on customary condition of anonymity, referring to the work by its Korean name.
South Korea has strictly restricted its people from traveling to the North after 46 of its sailors died in the March 2010 sinking of the warship Cheonan, blamed on Pyongyang. Inter-Korean relations plunged further when the North shelled the South Korean front-line island of Yeonpyeong last November, killing four.
Since the attacks, only select private groups have been allowed to visit North Korea to deliver relief items for flood victims and other vulnerable groups in nurseries and hospitals.
The approval comes amid hopes for an improvement in inter-Korean ties following this week's nomination of a new unification minister, Yu Woo-ik, who has pledged to explore ways to exert "flexibility" toward the communist neighbor.
hague@yna.co.kr
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- The government will allow some 30 people from South Korea's largest Buddhist sect to visit North Korea this week, an official said Friday, the first religious trip to the communist nation since its deadly attacks on the South last year.
Venerable Jaseung, the head of the Jogye Order, and 36 other members of the sect plan to fly to Pyongyang via Beijing on Saturday and stay in the North Korean capital until Wednesday, according to the official from the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
During their stay, the Buddhists plan to visit a temple about two hours north of Pyongyang and hold a service marking the 1,000th anniversary since the engraving of the Tripitaka Koreana, a set of 80,000 wooden plates carved with Buddhist scripture. The service will be held jointly with North Korean Buddhists.
"The government approved the visit because its purpose is purely religious, and because this year marks the 1,000th anniversary since the engraving of the Palmandaejanggyeong, our national heritage," the official said on customary condition of anonymity, referring to the work by its Korean name.
South Korea has strictly restricted its people from traveling to the North after 46 of its sailors died in the March 2010 sinking of the warship Cheonan, blamed on Pyongyang. Inter-Korean relations plunged further when the North shelled the South Korean front-line island of Yeonpyeong last November, killing four.
Since the attacks, only select private groups have been allowed to visit North Korea to deliver relief items for flood victims and other vulnerable groups in nurseries and hospitals.
The approval comes amid hopes for an improvement in inter-Korean ties following this week's nomination of a new unification minister, Yu Woo-ik, who has pledged to explore ways to exert "flexibility" toward the communist neighbor.
hague@yna.co.kr
