Civic Group Members to Visit NK

By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

Members of the Korea Sharing Movement, a local civic group, will begin a trip to North Korea Saturday, a spokesman of the group said Friday.

The visit will be the first by civic organization members since a South Korean female tourist was shot dead by North Korean soldiers at the Mount Geumgang resort in July.

Pyongyang sent an invitation to 142 members of the group and journalists, but rejected applications by journalists from three media outlets including the Reuters.

During the four-day stay, they will attend an opening ceremony of plants funded by South Korean civic organizations in Pyongyang, the group said.

Non-governmental groups have been advised to delay or cancel plans to visit the Stalinist state on a large scale for safety concerns since Park Wang-ja was shot dead July 11.

North Korea insisted that its soldier had to shoot Park because she failed to heed warnings to halt. Park is presumed to have strayed into a military restricted zone during a pre-dawn stroll.

Pyongyang has refused to let a South Korean team conduct an on-spot investigation with North Koreans.

Members of several other civic groups and the main opposition Democratic Party plan to make trips to North Korea next month, sources said.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr

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