South Korea urges dialogue over tourist shot dead in North Korea

SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Friday urged North Korea to come to the
dialogue table to resolve the case of a South Korean tourist shot dead in a North
Korean resort last year, as the incident has yet to be investigated.

"On the first anniversary of the shooting death of the tourist at Mount Kumgang,
our government urges North Korea to come forward to government-to-government
dialogue with immediacy and sincerity so as to resolve the case," Unification
Minister spokesman Chun Hae-sung said in a statement read in a press briefing.
A 53-year-old South Korean housewife, Park Wang-ja, was shot dead on July 11 last
year after she allegedly wandered into a controlled military zone at the Mount
Kumgang resort on the North's east coast. South Korea immediately suspended the
tour program and demanded a full-scale investigation. North Korea refused to
allow South Korean officials to visit the site and, in further retaliation,
expelled "unnecessary" South Korean tour operators stationed at the resort.
Seoul has "proposed dialogue over the shooting incident a number of times, but
North Korea has been unresponsive," the spokesman said.
Chun said ministry officials will visit Park's family later in the day to pay
their respects.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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