Asia-Pacific
ROK delays talks to resume tours to DPRK
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-25 11:32
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SEOUL: The Republic of Korea (ROK) proposed earlier Monday a later date for working-level talks suggested by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on resuming halted cross-border tours, the government said.
The DPRK previously proposed to hold talks on January 26, but the ROK's government suggested pushing the date back to February 8 and holding the meeting in the border town of Kaesong, Seoul's Ministry of Unification said.
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"If this working-level meeting is to be held, there wouldn't be any change in our position that there is a need for detailed discussions first and foremost on ensuring safety (of tourists)," Chun said, adding the safety measures need to be based on discussion between the two sides.
Along with the safety measures, Seoul is also planning to urge Pyongyang to conduct an investigation into the shooting incident that halted tours to a mountain resort and promise no recurrences of such incidents, Chun said.
The move comes after days of Seoul's cautious review of the Pyongyang's recent proposal to resume tours, despite concerns that Seoul is taking too long to formally respond to them.
The tour to a resort at Mount Kumgang was halted in 2008 soon after a ROK female tourist was shot to death by a DPRK sentinel, and the tour to the border town of Kaesong near the west coast was also suspended in the same year.
The ROK has repeatedly made it clear that it wants a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of the incident at the resort and systematic measures to prevent recurrences of such incidents, while saying the DPRK's acceptance of such demands would not automatically lead to a resumption of the tours.
