N.K. lifts border traffic restrictions

North Korea said yesterday it will lift cross-border traffic restrictions it had imposed since December, the latest conciliatory gesture toward the South. Its military said in a message to Seoul that the move would take effect today, according to the Unification Ministry.

The North also temporarily restored a telephone hotline between Red Cross societies.

North Korea restricted South Koreans` border crossing on Dec. 1 in protest of Seoul`s tougher stance toward the communist regime.

The North Korean leader`s top aides will visit Seoul today to pay their respects to the late former President Kim Dae-jung, Seoul officials said.

The six-member North Korean delegation includes Kim Ki-nam, a ruling party secretary, and Kim Yang-gon, chief of inter-Korean affairs.

The Unification Ministry yesterday accepted their request for a two-day trip, the first Seoul visit by Pyongyang officials in two years.

It is the latest sign of thawing ties between the two Koreas, coming after Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun`s visit to Pyongyang last week.

The North released a Hyundai worker after 136 days in captivity last Thursday.



Kim Jong-il told Hyun on Sunday that the North would normalize inter-Korean businesses, including family reunions and tour programs.

The South Korean Red Cross yesterday proposed meeting with its northern counterpart next week to arrange family reunions in October. Reunions have been on hold for two years.

On Wednesday the North Korean leader sent his condolences over the death of the former South Korean president.

Their summit in 2000 opened a flurry of inter-Korean exchanges and joint business opportunities. Most of them have been suspended due to political tension since President Lee Myung-bak took office in early 2008.

The North Koreans` visit may provide a chance for dialogue between the two governments.

The Unification Ministry said that the Seoul government had no plan to meet with them, saying their visit is only for mourning. But there will be informal contact because the funeral committee includes a number of top government officials. They will travel via a direct air route over the West Sea today, but will not attend the funeral scheduled for Sunday.

Kim Ki-nam, the lead delegate, is one of the closest aides to North Korea`s leader.

A secretary of the ruling Workers` Party, he is deeply involved in external affairs and accompanies the North Korean leader at most official events. He was present at a dinner on Aug. 4 for former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who visited Pyongyang to secure the release of two U.S. journalists. He visited Seoul in 2005 for joint celebrations of Korea`s Liberation Day. At that time, he paid a call to Kim Dae-jung who was being treated in the hospital.

The delegation also includes Kim Yang-gon, who leads the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which handles inter-Korean business ties. He also heads the ruling party`s spy and propaganda organ, the Unification Front. He made a secret visit to Seoul in September 2007 to coordinate the agenda for the second inter-Korean summit that October between former President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. He also met Roh to discuss follow-up measures in November.

He appeared at the North Korean leader`s meeting with Clinton early this month. He was also present at the meeting between Kim and Hyun on Sunday and later took part in a separate discussion with the Hyundai chairwoman to hammer out a five-point agreement on inter-Korean businesses.

In the accord, the two sides promised to work together to resume reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. They also agreed to make efforts to normalize suspended tours to Mount Geumgang and Gaeseong, launch a new travel program to Mount Baekdu and reinvigorate the joint industrial park in Gaeseong.

The South Korean Red Cross yesterday sent a message to its North Korean counterpart through a military communications line. It suggested the two organizations meet at Mount Geumgang from Aug. 26-28 to arrange the family meetings. The family reunions could take place at Mount Geumgang around the Oct. 3 Chuseok holiday.

The family meetings began in 2000 as a result of the first inter-Korean summit.

Some 16,000 people from the two countries met long-lost relatives in person, while another 3,750 met though video links. The last meeting was in October 2007.

The Red Cross has already begun working to select people for the reunions. More than 90,000 South Koreans are on a waiting list. (jjhwang@heraldm.com)



By Hwang Jang-jin