Aid group's Pyongyang visit likely to be postponed

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; UPDATES with new developments throughout)
SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean lawmaker and a group of civic aid
officials' planned visit to Pyongyang for talks on humanitarian aid will likely
be postponed due to an apparent breakdown of communications over protocol
regarding cross-border entry, officials said Tuesday.

Rep. Chung Eui-hwa of the ruling Grand National Party, who also serves as joint
head of the Korea Sharing Movement (KSM), a civic aid group, has requested
government permission to make a four-day visit to Pyongyang starting Wednesday to
meet with officials of the North's Korean Council for Reconciliation and
Cooperation (KCRC) to discuss medical and other humanitarian support projects.
The scheduled trip, which the government was largely expected to approve,
however, will likely be canceled or postponed as the KCRC has not sent an
official invitation to Chung and the civic group officials. The two sides have
initially agreed to conduct the meetings, according to officials.
"We're not exactly sure why the North hasn't sent us the invitation. Normally
invitations for these kind of talks are delivered a day or two before the set
date," one of Chung's aides said.
Kang Young-sik, secretary general of the KSM, also expected a postponement of the
visit.
"We've requested the invitation for the visit, which was discussed beforehand.
We've received no reply and are not sure of the reason," Kang told Yonhap News
Agency.
The government has tentatively decided to authorize the visit by Chung and seven
officials at the organization if the delegation is given an official invitation.
It would likely mark Seoul's first approval of a visit by a non-government group
to North Korea since Pyongyang carried out its second nuclear test on May 25.
Earlier requests by the KSM were rejected due to the state of inter-Korean
relations, which have frayed in recent months following the North's nuclear and
missile tests.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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