NK Proposes Talks on S-N Industrial Cooperation
By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
North Korea proposed military talks with South Korea to discuss the ``three main problems'' at the inter-Korean industrial park in Gaeseong, the Unification Ministry said Friday.
The three issues in question are related to free communication, the passage of people and customs clearance.
``The North requested the talks be held Tuesday,'' ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said.
The proposal came days after the communist country called for separate talks this month on ways to resume long-suspended cross-border tours.
The North asked that the talks be held from Jan. 26 to 27 at Mt. Keumgang, a scenic mountain resort on the east coast where tours were suspended after a South Korean female tourist who had entered a restricted zone was fatally shot by a North Korean guard in July 2008.
The proposal also sought to resume tours to the historic city of Gaeseong where the sides have also run the joint industrial park since 2004.
The tours to the North Korean city were suspended in December 2008 following a year of operations.
Seoul said it has yet to decide whether it will accept the North's offer.
``We are carefully examining the proposal considering recent changes in inter-Korean relations,'' Chun said. ``No decision has been made yet as to whether we'll accept it.''
A day after the North sought talks on the tours, its highest decision-making body, the National Defense Commission, threatened a ``holy war'' against South Korea over contingency plans Seoul had reportedly made in preparation for any regime breakdown in Pyongyang.
On Sunday, the North Korean media released for the first time photos of leader Kim Jong-il inspecting a massive joint exercise by the army, navy and air force.