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A South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier in the North¡¯s Mt.Kumgang on Friday morning. South Koreans have died in accidents and from illness since tours to the scenic resort began in 1998, but this was the first death by North Korean gunfire.
The incident could prove disastrous for inter-Korean ties.
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said Park Wang-ja (53) from Seoul's Nowon district died around 5 a.m. while taking a stroll on the beach near the hotel where she was staying. She had left the hotel at 4:33 a.m.
Quoting what North Korean authorities told tour operator Hyundai Asan, Kim said Park strayed into an off-limits military area and, instead of stopping when a North Korean soldier asked her to, fled, and the soldier fired. According to the North, Park wandered 1 km northward into the restricted area. Soldiers repeatedly asked her to stop and fired a warning shot, but she ran away.
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Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun briefs reporters on the shooting of a South Korean tourist at North Korea¡¯s Mt. Kumgang resort, at the Central Government Complex building in Doryeom-dong, Seoul on Friday. /Newsis
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Park's body was laid out at a Sokcho hospital at 1 p.m. after being taken across the border. The hospital says she has two gunshot wounds, one in the back penetrating the chest and the other to the left hip, and the cause of death was respiratory failure from the gunshots. Park started a three-day Mt.Kumgang tour on Wednesday. Hotel CCTV captured her leaving the hotel early Friday morning.
The South Korean government immediately halted tours to the mountain until the case is closed. Kim said the government will take additional measures depending on the results of an investigation. Hyundai Asan will withdraw the 1,263 South Korean tourists currently in the North through Sunday.
President Lee Myung-bak expressed his sorrow and ordered his secretariat to uncover the facts and take appropriate measures. An inter-ministerial task force headed by Vice Unification Minister Hong Yang-ho has also been formed.
Critics say there are serious flaws in the government¡¯s readiness to protect its people, given that it was informed of the incident by Hyundai Asan at around 11:30 a.m., some six hours and 30 minutes after it occurred, and made an official announcement about the incident at 4:00 p.m., some 11 hours after the fact. Even after he was notified of the incident at 11:40 a.m., President Lee Myung-bak attended the opening of the newly-elected National Assembly at 2:00 p.m. and there delivered an address about new policies toward North Korea without mentioning the incident , giving rise to criticism that the government¡¯s judgment of political affairs is seriously skewed.
In the speech, the president said his government¡¯s North Korea policy prioritizes denuclearization while seeking ¡°mutual benefit and co-prosperity.¡± ¡°I am willing to have serious discussion with the North on how to implement inter-Korean agreements made so far, including the July 4, 1972 Joint Statement, the 1992 Basic Agreement, the 1991 Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the June 15, 2000 Joint Declaration and the October 4, 2007 Summit Declaration,¡± he said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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