By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter

South Korea's relations with North Korea are expected to go from bad to worse as a row between the two sides over the killing of a South Korean tourist by a North Korean soldier is showing signs of deepening.

Last week, the rivals engaged in a diplomatic tug-of-war in Singapore during the ASEAN Regional Forum over the tourist's death and the agreement signed by the leaders of the two Koreas last October.

Seoul appealed for more global attention to the killing at the Mount Geumgang resort, while Pyongayang urged Seoul to speed up cross-border projects based on the spirit of the inter-Korean summit accord.

Initially, Singapore, the host of the regional security forum, included their demands in a chairman's statement issued at the end of the meeting, Thursday. However, both Koreas separately contacted Singapore and asked it to remove parts that they considered unfavorable.

Singapore deleted the clauses about the tourist's death and the summit accord and issued a revised statement.

The change of the statement means the South's efforts to pressure the North to resolve the tourist's death through cooperation with the international community have failed, critics say. Seoul's top diplomats are now coming under growing pressure to resign.

Inter-Korean relations will suffer a setback, too, experts say.

``South Korea should have tried to settle the tourist's death through inter-Korean dialogue. Seoul will find it more difficult to improve relations with Pyongyang if it becomes an international issue,'' said Cho Sung-yul, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy, a Seoul-based think tank.

Many observers are increasing calls for Seoul to overhaul its hard-line North Korea policy and engage in more active inter-Korean exchanges in line with advancement of the six-party negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program.

``The fact that Seoul failed to gain support from the ASEAN countries in dealing with North Korea shows Asian neighbors have different viewpoints about the communist state. They believe rising tension on the Korean Peninsula will hamper regional security,'' said Koo Kap-woo, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

President Lee Myung-bak has made it clear that his government will not lift its ban on tours to Mount Geumgang unless the communist regime allows a joint investigation into the shooting of the female tourist.

Lee also urged North Korea to ensure the safety of South Korean tourists and take appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy. The government will consider suspending civilian tours to Gaeseong if the North fails to meet the demands, he said.

North Korea has demanded Lee show respect toward the inter-Korean agreements signed by former presidents, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr