N. Korea bashes South for blocking cross-border NGO meeting

SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea bashed the South Korean government for
denying approval of a cross-border meeting between non-government groups, saying
Seoul is "determined to block the reunification movement" at the private level,
according to a Web site monitored here Sunday.
"Uriminzokkiri," the North's official Web site, carried the accusation, which was
originally published by the weekly Tongil Sinbo, a government mouthpiece.
"The South Korean government is going to extremes to carry out its maneuvers
seeking to completely shut off overseas contacts, which were barely sustained by
the non-governmental reunification movement groups," the article said.
The North Korean Committee for the June 15 Joint Declaration, which was
established after the first inter-Korean summit in 2000 to promote the
implementation of the summit accord, sent a letter to its South Korean
counterpart to propose a meeting sometime between late July and early August in
Shenyang, China.
The South Korean committee said it was "unconventional" for the North to initiate
such a proposal. Its request to meet with the North Korean group was rejected on
July 23 by the Seoul government, which cited tense political relations.
The government earlier issued restrictions on civic and humanitarian aid
organizations visiting or communicating with North Korea after the North's
long-range rocket test in April.
The Tongil Sinbo article also criticized a South Korean presidential consultative
body for recently publishing a booklet titled, "Rightly Understanding Lee
Myung-bak's Policies toward North Korea."
The book included some statements refuting the inter-Korean policies of two
former presidents -- Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun -- both of whom had met with
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il while in office.
The commentary called that "an infernal deed to stir up anti-reunification,
anti-North sentiment."
Inter-Korean relations have degenerated since the Lee administration was
inaugurated early last year with a pledge to take a tougher stance toward the
communist North than his liberal predecessors.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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