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North Korea recently changed the wording on an official letter of invitation it sends to South Koreans seeking to visit the communist country. The words ¡°We invite¡± and ¡°guarantee the safety¡± of the visitor has been changed to ¡°agree¡± (to the visit) and ¡°offer accommodation.¡± Although the two Koreas had agreed to honor the inviolable physical rights of tourists from the South, North Korea casually broke that agreement by shooting a South Korean tourist dead. We cannot therefore take it lightly that a country like that has gotten rid of the clause ¡°guarantee the safety¡± and replaced it with a mere ¡°offer accommodation.¡± They say the safety agreement for Mt. Kumgang between the two Koreas is worthless, yet the Kaesong tours do not even have that guarantee. The only agreement is one signed by Hyundai Asan and the North Korean government.
A South Korean excavator ship that collided with a North Korea fishing boat on Tuesday morning in the East Sea was returned to the South on Wednesday afternoon after investigation by North Korean officials. The collision occurred at around 2:25 a.m. on Tuesday, but it wasn¡¯t until six hours after the accident -- at around 8:34 a.m. -- that North Korean officials notified the South. And the North Korean government notified the South Korean owner of the excavator ship at around 2:38 p.m. Wednesday that the South Korean vessel¡¯s departure was being delayed due to mechanical failure. North Korean authorities said nothing to the South Korean government.
Until that time, our government is said to have had few accurate details regarding how the accident happened or the physical condition of our sailors. It wasn¡¯t until 13 hours after the accident that our government was notified by the owner of the excavator ship and asked the North to advise it of the details behind the accident. A maritime pact signed by the two Koreas -- to immediately notify each other of any accident -- had been completely ignored.
Without a formal safety guarantee, whether it is for Mt. Kumgang or Pyongyang, it has become dangerous for South Koreans to set foot on North Korean soil simply hoping that nothing will go wrong.
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