By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
In a change of its hawkish tone toward North Korea, the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) showed a softer stance Wednesday, urging the government to prepare measures to improve inter-Korean relations.
The call came after Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun visited the North in a bid to win the release of a South Korean worker detained there and possibly break the icy relations between the two Koreas.
"Hyun might have discussed the resumption of the tour program to Mt. Geumgang as well as the detainee issue," GNP spokesman Yoon Sang-hyun said. "The government needs to map out measures to enhance inter-Korean relations when she returns."
Hyun crossed into the secretive state Monday, seeking to free a Hyundai employee working in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
The 44-year-old Yu was detained on March 30 for allegedly making derogatory comments about the North Korean regime and attempting to incite a woman to defect to the South.
He has been held in the North for 136 days, and South Korean officials have not been allowed any contact with him.
The Hyundai chief's four-day trip to the reclusive state has raised hopes for his freedom, after former U.S. President Bill Clinton brought two detained journalists back to the United States after a rare meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il last Tuesday.
Hyun originally planned to stay for three days, but extended her visit to four without providing any reasons.
She was expected to meet with Kim to discuss the detainee issue and the resumption of Mt. Geumgang trips, which were suspended after a shooting incident last July.
The secretive leader reportedly watched a play with military staff and inspected a naval university in the northern town of Hamhung, overshadowing the possibility of meeting with Hyun.
A South Korean female tourist was killed by a North Korean solider in a restricted military zone near the resort during a pre-dawn stroll.
Details surrounding her death have not been verified because Pyongyang refused a request from Seoul for a joint on-site investigation.
Meanwhile, GNP Rep. Chung Ok-nim of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee opposed any "unprincipled peace initiative" with the North.
"The North Korea nuclear issue has not yet been fundamentally solved," she said. "So, the government should be cautious in resuming assistance to Pyongyang or the tour program."
Chairman Chung Sye-kyun of the main opposition Democratic Party blasted the Lee Myung-bak administration over the detainee issue.
"The government must reflect on what it has done for the past 136 days," he said. "It is shameful that the President and government officials worsened inter-Korean relations and made no progress in getting Yu and detained crewmembers of a fishing boat released."
The fishing boat "800 Yeonan" with a four-man crew was towed to the North after it accidentally crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) on July 30.
Its navigation system is believed to have malfunctioned.