Opposition Lawmakers Visit Pyongyang Amid Tension

Lawmakers of South Korea's Democratic Labor Party (DLP) arrived in Pyongyang Saturday to mend fences between the two Koreas, Yonhap reported Saturday.

A group of 20 legislators, including party officials of DLP, arrived in Pyongyang on a five-day mission.

"We will actively discuss implementation of the two stalled inter-Korean deals," signed under Seoul's former administrations that promoted the engagement with North Korea, DLP Chairman Kang Ki-kab told reporters before his departure for Pyongyang.

DLP’s official mission to North Korea is to meet officials from the communist country’s Social Democratic Party, with which it established relations in 2002.

The DLP controls five seats in the 299-member National Assembly and is considered most pro-Pyongyang among the South’s political camps.

The visit by the opposition legislators came only days after North Korea threatened to shutter the inter-Korean border and cut all direct communication lines.

Relations between the two Cold War rivals have been strained since conservative Lee Myung-bak took office in late February. Taking a tougher position, Lee has repeatedly said that his government will not expand inter-Korean cooperation projects unless Pyongyang abandons all of its nuclear ambitions.