ID :
208116
Mon, 09/19/2011 - 17:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/208116
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S. Korean religious leaders to make joint trip to North Wednesday
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korean religious leaders will make a rare joint trip to North Korea this week with permission from the Seoul government, the Unification Ministry said Monday.
The 24-member delegation representing the country's seven largest religious groups, including Roman Catholics, Protestants and Buddhists, will fly into Pyongyang via the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on Wednesday, the ministry said.
While staying in Pyongyang for four days, the religious chiefs and their staffers are scheduled to meet with their North Korean counterparts in such places as Pyongyang and Mount Paekdu bordering China, according to the ministry.
"The government allowed the religious leaders' trip in consideration of their contribution to inter-Korean exchanges and aspiration for peace on the Korean Peninsula," a ministry official in charge of the permission said.
The delegation will visit North Korea's religious facilities and attend an inter-Korean meeting of religious leaders "for cross-border reconciliation, unity and peaceful reunification" on Thursday, according to the Korean Conference of Religion for Peace (KCRP), a local organization representing the seven religious groups.
On Friday, religious leaders of the two Koreas will hold a joint prayer meeting on Mount Paekdu, the KCRP said.
The South Korean delegation will make a press statement before its departure from Incheon International Airport Wednesday morning, it added.
Experts say the rare visit by South Korea's religious chiefs will serve a role in easing high tension between the two Koreas.
Despite denial by the KCRP, some have raised the possibility that the leaders may meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during the visit.
South Korea's new Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik met with the seven leaders over dinner at a Seoul hotel, and asked for their constructive role in moving inter-Korean relations forward.
"There may be difficulties between the South and the North in the political and military spheres, but (I ask you to) lead beyond that level," he said, hours after assuming his new post earlier in the day.
The point man on North Korea blamed the current tension on North Korea's military provocations and nuclear weapons tests, saying it would be "a good thing" if the religious leaders could tell the North to stop such hostilities and join the South in coming up with ways to feed the North's impoverished people.
"In order to restore trust, (we must) say that the perpetrators have done wrong and ask them not to repeat their actions. Then, a minimum amount of trust can be built," he said.
Yu's comments can be seen as an indirect call on North Korea to take responsible steps over the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and the artillery shelling of the front-line island of Yeonpyeong, which killed a total of 50 South Koreans last year.
The seven leaders responded positively to Yu's request, saying they have high expectations of their trip.
The visit is the latest in a series of trips to North Korea by South Korean cultural and religious officials.
South Korean orchestra conductor Chung Myung-whun returned to Seoul on Thursday from a trip to North Korea during which he agreed with North Korean musicians to push for joint concerts of an inter-Korean symphony orchestra.
Earlier this month, the Unification Ministry also allowed officials from South Korea's largest Buddhist sect to visit the North, the first such trip since ties fell to the lowest level in decades after the North's two deadly attacks on the South last year.
The 24-member delegation representing the country's seven largest religious groups, including Roman Catholics, Protestants and Buddhists, will fly into Pyongyang via the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on Wednesday, the ministry said.
While staying in Pyongyang for four days, the religious chiefs and their staffers are scheduled to meet with their North Korean counterparts in such places as Pyongyang and Mount Paekdu bordering China, according to the ministry.
"The government allowed the religious leaders' trip in consideration of their contribution to inter-Korean exchanges and aspiration for peace on the Korean Peninsula," a ministry official in charge of the permission said.
The delegation will visit North Korea's religious facilities and attend an inter-Korean meeting of religious leaders "for cross-border reconciliation, unity and peaceful reunification" on Thursday, according to the Korean Conference of Religion for Peace (KCRP), a local organization representing the seven religious groups.
On Friday, religious leaders of the two Koreas will hold a joint prayer meeting on Mount Paekdu, the KCRP said.
The South Korean delegation will make a press statement before its departure from Incheon International Airport Wednesday morning, it added.
Experts say the rare visit by South Korea's religious chiefs will serve a role in easing high tension between the two Koreas.
Despite denial by the KCRP, some have raised the possibility that the leaders may meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during the visit.
South Korea's new Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik met with the seven leaders over dinner at a Seoul hotel, and asked for their constructive role in moving inter-Korean relations forward.
"There may be difficulties between the South and the North in the political and military spheres, but (I ask you to) lead beyond that level," he said, hours after assuming his new post earlier in the day.
The point man on North Korea blamed the current tension on North Korea's military provocations and nuclear weapons tests, saying it would be "a good thing" if the religious leaders could tell the North to stop such hostilities and join the South in coming up with ways to feed the North's impoverished people.
"In order to restore trust, (we must) say that the perpetrators have done wrong and ask them not to repeat their actions. Then, a minimum amount of trust can be built," he said.
Yu's comments can be seen as an indirect call on North Korea to take responsible steps over the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and the artillery shelling of the front-line island of Yeonpyeong, which killed a total of 50 South Koreans last year.
The seven leaders responded positively to Yu's request, saying they have high expectations of their trip.
The visit is the latest in a series of trips to North Korea by South Korean cultural and religious officials.
South Korean orchestra conductor Chung Myung-whun returned to Seoul on Thursday from a trip to North Korea during which he agreed with North Korean musicians to push for joint concerts of an inter-Korean symphony orchestra.
Earlier this month, the Unification Ministry also allowed officials from South Korea's largest Buddhist sect to visit the North, the first such trip since ties fell to the lowest level in decades after the North's two deadly attacks on the South last year.
