Aid group's Pyongyang visit canceled

(ATTN: ADDS remarks from unification ministry at bottom)
SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean lawmaker and officials from his aid
group canceled a planned visit to Pyongyang Wednesday, as they had not received
the required invitation from North Korea, officials said.

The trip, had it been made, would have marked Seoul's first approval of a North
Korea visit by a non-governmental group since Pyongyang's second nuclear test on
May 25.
Rep. Chung Eui-hwa of the ruling Grand National Party, co-chair of the Korea
Sharing Movement (KSM) which arranges assistance for North Korea, had requested
government permission to make a four-day visit to Pyongyang starting Wednesday.
He and other KSM officials were to meet with the North's Korean Council for
Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC) and discuss medical and humanitarian
support projects.
The scheduled trip, which the government was largely expected to approve, was
canceled as the KCRC had not sent an official invitation, though the two groups
have initially agreed to hold the meetings, according to officials.
"The KSM voluntarily withdrew their request to enter North Korea, as they had not
received an invitation as of Wednesday morning," an official at South Korea's
Unification Ministry said.
Invitations for such talks are customarily delivered from the North a day or two
before the set date, according to KSM officials, who added that they haven't
received any explanation from their North Korean counterpart.
The government had tentatively decided to authorize the visit by Chung and seven
KSM officials if the delegation was officially invited.
Earlier requests by the KSM were rejected due to the state of inter-Korean
relations, which have deteriorated in recent months following the North's nuclear
and missile tests.
The Unification Ministry said it had no particular comment on the canceled trip
but affirmed it will continue with humanitarian support to North Korea.
"Regardless of the political situation, the government has not changed its stance
to continue humanitarian aid toward North Korea," Chun Hae-sung, the ministry's
spokesman, said in a press briefing.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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