Seoul negative about event with North for 2000 declaration

Seoul may not accept the North's proposal to hold a joint event for the 13th anniversary of a landmark reconciliatory inter-Korean agreement, a government official said Friday.

"It's not an easy decision," the government official told Yonhap News Agency. "A lot of South Koreans may have to travel to the North, and it may entail many issues, including a safety guarantee (of the cross-border travelers)," the official said, indicating that the government is likely to reject the joint ceremony offer.

Earlier this week, North Korea's body in charge of pushing for the implementation of the five-point reconciliatory agreement signed on June 15, 2000 sent the proposal to its South Korean counterpart to celebrate the anniversary on Mount Kumgang or in Gaeseong.

The June 15th North-South Joint Declaration between liberal-minded late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il laid out a reconciliatory mode for the Korean Peninsula, pledging the two countries to jointly promote reunification, and other economic and cultural cooperation.

Inter-Korean relations further went awry after the North spurned the South's repeated offers to hold talks to discuss the resumption of the jointly run industrial park in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong. The North's withdrawal of North Korean workers there in early April, taken in protest against Seoul's joint military exercises with Washington, brought the park to a complete stop.

Seoul dismissed a plan by South Korean investors in Kaesong to visit the suspended zone on Thursday, citing difficulties in securing a safety guarantee from the North on their trip. Seoul has repeatedly demanded the North come to the negotiating table for inter-Korean working level talks to resolve the standoff triggered by the shutdown of the Gaeseong complex.

Unification ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-seok said the government will decide on the approval of the joint event plan after considering the overall condition of inter-Korean relations. (Yonhap News)