Unity Fest in North Finds Disunity on Communique

The South Korean delegation in Pyongyang for the Liberation Day celebrations deliberated with its North Korean counterparts on the text for a joint press release, but the two sides could not narrow their differences.

"The draft presented by the North did not measure up to the South's expectations and we are continuing to negotiate," an official from the South Korean delegation said. "We will make efforts to include much of what we prepared until we leave for Seoul."

The South Korean delegation wants the statement to call for holding joint Liberation Day celebrations in both Pyongyang and Seoul next year; ex-changing presents between separated families; asking both governments to open direct air routes to Samjiyon airport at Mount Paektu, and efforts by Koreans living abroad to encourage National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il to visit Seoul.

But in negotiations that went late into the night, the North would not go past endorsing the principle of civilian exchanges.

In Seoul, the National Security Council committee led by Unification Minister Lim Dong-won decided Monday to take criminal action against those who partook in the events held at the "Monument to the Three Charters of National Reunification" or lauded Kim Il Sung's spirit in the visitors' book at his birthplace.

The government agreed, however, that inter-Korean civilian exchanges should not be hampered by the incidents in Pyongyang but should be expanded.

by Lee Chul-hee