Many a slip between zone and lip

SHENYANG, China -- Korean reporters' applications for entry visas to Sinuiju were rejected by the North Korean consulate here Monday, the day that the minister for the special district had said would see the border with North Korea over the Yalu River open for all comers.

Yang Bin, the administrator named to manage North Korea's new enterprise zone at Sinuiju, changed course late Sunday, saying that the new system would not be in place for another week. The no-visa entry rules for foreigners would begin Oct. 8, Mr. Yang told reporters here.

Mr. Yang, 39, an ethnic Chinese of Dutch nationality, had also said Friday that South Koreans would be included in the relaxed entry and exit rules.

That statement is also now in doubt; the North Korean consulate in Shenyang said Monday, "South Koreans are not foreigners," and returned Korean reporters' applications for entry visas.

Mr. Yang told reporters Monday that the delay was a result of problems in consultations between China and North Korea about border crossing rules. Pyeongyang officials had also informed him earlier that day, he said, that Korean and Japanese reporters were not covered by the eased rules.

He apologized for his earlier assurances that he said had been made "without considering all the variables involved."

He added that Pyeongyang is still reviewing the institution of passes for South Koreans that would be similar to the documentation carried by Taiwan nationals when they visit China. The passes used by Taiwan citizens are issued by a state-run Chinese travel agency in Hong Kong. The procedures applicable to South Koreans would require about six months to put into effect, he said.

North Korea watchers in Seoul said Pyeongyang is probably still trying to decide how to treat South Koreans who want to travel to Sinuiju. A Seoul official said that treating citizens of the South like other foreigners may give Pyeongyang some qualms. "What is more likely is to group them with overseas Koreans," he said.

Separately, an official of a trading company operating in Sinuiju told the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday that construction of housing for about 100,000 residents to be relocated away from areas allocated to the special district is going on south of the zone.

The relocation work will reportedly take about two years, the official said, but is being hampered by materials shortages.

by Yoo Kwang-jong, Ko Soo-suk