South, N. Korea fail to reunion case<\/p>\n
SEOUL (AFP): South and North Korean negotiators holding talks
\nin the North on reuniting families separated for more than half a
\ncentury failed on Wednesday to settle a thorny issue of a
\nrejected entry to a South Korean journalist, a South Korean pool
\nreport said.<\/p>\n
Kim In-Koo from Seoul's conservative daily Chosun Ilbo, which
\nis critical of the North's communist policies, was on his way
\nhome on Wednesday evening after the North's refusal to permit him
\nentry, Chosun said.<\/p>\n
The reporter had to stay on a South Korean cruise ship in
\nwaters off the North's scenic Mount Kumkang, the venue for the
\nongoing Red Cross talks.<\/p>\n
Two rounds of \"unofficial contacts\" between South and North
\nKorean Red Cross officials failed on Wednesday to persuade the
\nNorth to allow him to join five other South Korean journalists
\ncovering the talks.<\/p>\n
Red Cross officials from both sides of the divided peninsula
\nbegan four days of talks on family reunions at Kumkang on
\nTuesday, were in recess Wednesday and will resume talks on
\nThursday, the pool report said.<\/p>\n
The South delegation, led by Park Ki-Ryun, proposed Tuesday
\nthat a 161-member group -- 100 separated relatives, 30 support
\nstaff and 30 journalists -- visit the North, it said.<\/p>\n
But the North delegation, led by Choe Sung-Chol, demanded the
\nnumber be reduced to 151 by limiting the number of journalists to
\n20.<\/p>\n
Although the North and South delegations were upbeat after the
\nfirst day, vowing they would make progress, they faced another
\nstumbling block over the repatriation of North Korean spies in
\nthe south.<\/p>\n
Seoul has suggested that the former North Korean spies, mostly
\nreleased from prison, be returned after the family reunions, but
\nPyongyang is insisting repatriation comes first.<\/p>\n
Seoul officials have expressed hope that the family reunions
\nwill not be a one-time event but will continue on a regular
\nbasis. But the North's reaction was not immediately available up
\nuntil Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The South would propose setting up a \"reunion house\" for
\nseparated families at the inter-Korean border village of
\nPanmunjom and regularizing reunions at the talks, Seoul's
\nJoongAng Ilbo newspaper said earlier.<\/p>\n
South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung and North Korean leader
\nKim Jong-Il have agreed to arrange meetings for separated
\nfamilies around Aug. 15, the 55th anniversary of Korea being
\nfreed from Japanese colonial rule.<\/p>\n
The agreement, reached during their historic summit in
\nPyongyang earlier this month, also called for a settlement of
\n\"the question of unswerving communists serving prison sentences\"
\nbut without a specific date set for their repatriation.<\/p>\n
According to the Seoul government, some 7.6 million South
\nKoreans have relatives in the North. Most have had no news since
\nthe division of the Korean peninsula in 1945 and the ensuing
\n1950-53 Korean War.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/south-n-korea-fail-to-reunion-case-1447893297",
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