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Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan brought up the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist in North Korea in a keynote speech at the ASEAN + 3 foreign ministers¡¯ meeting in Singapore on Tuesday. Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon said Yu urged North Korea to allow a visit by a South Korean investigation team into North Korea to find all the facts and prevent such incidents from happening again. Ministers from some countries have reportedly said they hope North and South Korea can solve the issue through dialogue and cooperation.
Yu also sought cooperation from Singaporean Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the issue. He plans to bring the matter up in bilateral meetings with his counterparts from China, Russia and the United States on Wednesday, and during the ASEAN Regional Forum on Thursday, when North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun will be present.
U.S. chief nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill, who is at the forum, said it is "not understandable at all" that North Korea shot a middle-aged woman dead and called on the Stalinist country to cooperate and begin dialogue with the South to solve the issue, according to a South Korean official.
Pak, who arrived in Singapore on Monday, spent most of the day touring the Lion City and meeting with Singaporean President S.R. Nathan and Prime Minister Lee. He did not answer questions from reporters about the shooting and declined South Korea¡¯s proposal for a bilateral meeting.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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