ID :
33996
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 09:27
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/33996
The shortlink copeid
Ruling party to ask activists to halt flying anti-N.K. leaflets
SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's ruling party said Friday it will ask
activists to stop sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the inter-Korean border,
in sync with a government effort to temper friction with the communist neighbor.
The spreading of the leaflets has become yet another bone of contention between
the two divided countries, with North Korea sharply restricting passage across
their shared border in retaliation.
"Party leader Park Hee-tae will try to dissuade civic leaders from sending any
more flyers in a meeting with them later today," said Rep. Kim Hyo-jae of the
ruling Grand National Party. "Although these people have the right to express
their thoughts, Chairman Park will try to convince them of the urgency of mending
ties with North Korea."
It is the conservative party's first official move regarding the issue.
Conservative activists here, many of whom are family members of South Koreans
abducted by the North, often fly balloons into North Korea laden with leaflets
denouncing the communist regime and calling for North Koreans to defect to the
South. They have snubbed repeated requests by the South Korean government to halt
the activity.
North Korea has been taking a series of hardline measures against South Korea in
recent weeks, which included restricting passage across their shared border and
ousting thousands of South Korean workers from a joint industrial park.
Relations between the two Koreas began to sour after the conservative Lee
Myung-bak administration took office in February, vowing to get tougher on
Pyongyang.
Breaking with the engagement policies pushed by his predecessors, President Lee
has made clear on several occasions that his government will not expand
inter-Korean cooperation projects until North Korea abandons all of its nuclear
ambitions.
The two Koreas, which technically remain at war, are both party to the six-nation
aid-for-denuclearization talks, along with China, Japan, Russia and the United
States.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
activists to stop sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the inter-Korean border,
in sync with a government effort to temper friction with the communist neighbor.
The spreading of the leaflets has become yet another bone of contention between
the two divided countries, with North Korea sharply restricting passage across
their shared border in retaliation.
"Party leader Park Hee-tae will try to dissuade civic leaders from sending any
more flyers in a meeting with them later today," said Rep. Kim Hyo-jae of the
ruling Grand National Party. "Although these people have the right to express
their thoughts, Chairman Park will try to convince them of the urgency of mending
ties with North Korea."
It is the conservative party's first official move regarding the issue.
Conservative activists here, many of whom are family members of South Koreans
abducted by the North, often fly balloons into North Korea laden with leaflets
denouncing the communist regime and calling for North Koreans to defect to the
South. They have snubbed repeated requests by the South Korean government to halt
the activity.
North Korea has been taking a series of hardline measures against South Korea in
recent weeks, which included restricting passage across their shared border and
ousting thousands of South Korean workers from a joint industrial park.
Relations between the two Koreas began to sour after the conservative Lee
Myung-bak administration took office in February, vowing to get tougher on
Pyongyang.
Breaking with the engagement policies pushed by his predecessors, President Lee
has made clear on several occasions that his government will not expand
inter-Korean cooperation projects until North Korea abandons all of its nuclear
ambitions.
The two Koreas, which technically remain at war, are both party to the six-nation
aid-for-denuclearization talks, along with China, Japan, Russia and the United
States.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
