Just a week after the start of the third joint Korean excavation at Manwoldae Palace site in Kaesong November 4th 2008, the DPR Korea announced to close the borders for inter Korean contact on December first. Relations between the two nations have desintegrated in recent months. The conservative fronts in both governments came to the fore, signalling the end of mutual compromises and concerted reconciliation efforts as under the ROK’s former "Sunshine Policy." Repeated dropping of leaflets by south Koran activist groups came as a good reason to proclaim the announced interruption of intra-Korean border travel . The Xinhua News Service reported (2008/11/24) that the head of the DPRK delegation to the inter-Korean general-level military talks announced five measures on the bilateral ties with ROK. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the five measures, effective Dec. 1, are:
- The DRPK People's Army will selectively expel the resident personnel and vehicles of the institutions and enterprises concerned with the authorities in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) and Mt. Kumgang tourist area and cut off their overland passages through the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).
- It will totally suspend the tour of Kaesong by the ROK side's personnel now being conducted after their passage through the MDL in the portions on the West Coast under the control of the DPRK and the ROK
- It will disallow the ROK's train service between Pongdong and Munsan and close the MDL in the region.
- It will strictly restrict the passage of all personnel of the ROK side through the MDL to enter the KIC and Mt. Kumgang tourist area under the name of visit and economic cooperation, etc.
- More strict order and discipline will be enforced as regards the passage and entry into the KIC and Mt. Kumgang tourist area and stringent sanctions applied against any violators of them.
Luckily however, the third joint Korean Manwoldae Palace site excavation planned to last until December 23, 2008, is still ongoing with all its south Korean personnel. It seems to reveal the real value of cultural cooperation as stated in the inter-Korean joint agreement. Cultural cooperation goes beyond political or economic cooperation, as it is not built on differences but commonality. True though, too, is that DPRK interests in Manwoldae for preparation as a UNESCO World Heritage site also run high…
No comments:
Post a Comment