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The South Korean government on Sunday officially raised doubts on the North Korean announcement on the death of Park Wang-ja, a female South Korean tourist who has been shot dead by North Korean army guards near Mt. Kumgang resort in North Korea.
In an official briefing, Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said, "If the North Korean allegation were to be true, Ms. Park should have walked a total distance of 3 to 3.3 km (at a speed of 9 to 10 km per hour) -- 706m from her hotel to the beach entrance, 428m to the military fence, 1,200m beyond the fence, and 1,000m back toward the fence."
Kim said, "But there was only a 20-minute difference between the time of her departure from the hotel as recorded on the hotel's CCTV system (4:30 a.m. on Friday) and the North Korean side's allegation of Park's time of death (4:50 a.m. the same day). We can hardly understand the North Korean side's explanation, considering that Park, a woman in her 50s who must have walked wearing a skirt, had walked on a sandy beach."
He also raised doubts about the North Korean announcement on North Korean guards' firing of a warning shot and the rounds they fired, saying, "If the North Korean guards had fired a warning shot (as North Korea claims), there should have been three gun shots (including the two shots that Park sustained). But a South Korean witness, who happened to be nearby at that time, testified that he had heard only two shots."
The spokesman continued to argue that North Korea had violated the inter-Korean agreement. He said, "According to the inter-Korean agreement on the South Korean tourists' entry and stay at the Mt. Kumgang resort area, the North Korean side should guarantee the personal safety and safe return of all South Korean tourists. If an accident should occur, North Korea is supposed to stop it and begin an investigation. But North Korea has allowed a South Korean tourist to be shot dead."
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At the central government complex building in Seoul on Sunday morning, Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun gives a briefing on the shooting at the Mt. Kumgang resort, pointing to the tourist map of the mountain resort. /Yonhap
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In a spokesman's statement issued on Saturday, the North's Guidance Bureau for Comprehensive Development of Scenic Spots claimed, "Around 4:50 a.m. on Friday, Ms. Park Wang-ja illegally intruded into our side's restricted military area beyond the fence. Despite (North Korean guards') warning, she kept running. They continued to warn her to stop by even firing a warning shot. But she kept running, so they fired at her."
In a statement by the Unification Ministry spokesman that day, the South Korean government called for a joint investigation by both Koreas, saying, "This incident is a grave issue related to the life and security of an innocent private citizen. So our people and government demand that there be an investigation to find out the truth in a thoroughgoing way."
In an urgent conference of security-related ministers held at Cheong Wa Dae Saturday, President Lee Myung-bak instructed Cabinet members to find out the truth immediately. He said, "It's hardly understandable that (North Korean military guards) fired shots at a defenseless private citizen and deprived her of her precious life at a time when it was possible to identify who she was with their naked eyes."
Meanwhile, North Korea continued to refuse to accept a telephone message from South Korea calling for a joint investigation. In the same statement issued on Saturday, the North's Guidance Bureau for Comprehensive Development of Scenic Spots said, "We regret (over Ms. Park's death). But the cause of the incident was evident. After the incident, we inspected the scene of incident alongside officials from Hyundai (Hyundai Asan, the operator of the South Korean tours of Mt. Kumgang). So we can't permit South Korean officials to come into our side's area for an investigation."
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A Hyundai Asan employee passes by the company's signpost at its headquarters in Gyedong, Seoul on Sunday. /Yonhap
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The North Korean statement continued, "The responsibility for this incident rests fully with the South. Nonetheless, the South Korean authorities unilaterally suspended tours of Mt. Kumgang. This is a challenge to us. We won't accept South Korean tourists until after the South apologizes appropriately and works out measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents."
In an article dated on Sunday, the Rodong Shinmun, the organ of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea, dismissed President Lee's Friday suggestion for the "full resumption of inter-Korean dialogue" as "nonsense that warrants no consideration." The North Korean daily harshly criticized Lee's suggestion as "a ridiculous plot to undermine the significance, and avoid the implementation, of the declarations (the June 15, 2000 Joint Declaration and the October 4, 2007 Summit Declaration)." It also said, "It's self-contradictory and nonsensical for him to talk about 'implementation of inter-Korean declarations,' while denying them... The puppet traitor suggested 'full resumption of dialogue.' But it's an insincere empty talk."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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