N. Korean leader refuses to cooperate on abduction, POW issues: Cheong Wa Dae

Posted on : 2007-10-06 11:07 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun urged his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-il, to help resolve the issue of South Korean abductees and prisoners of war living in the North during their summit talks in Pyongyang on Wednesday, but Kim's reaction was negative, Roh's office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.

"Roh and the South Korean delegation openly raised the abduction and POW issues at the summit talks, but only confirmed a wide gap in perception," said Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Cheon Ho-seon.

"But the government won't give up the abduction and POW issues, and will continue to raise them at the upcoming inter-Korean prime ministerial talks scheduled for November in Seoul," said Cheon.

Cheon also commented on the growing public criticism that the inter-Korean agreement on the creation of a special peace zone in the West Sea could lead to the nullification of two Koreas' disputed maritime border, or the Northern Limit Line (NLL).

"The South Korean government remains unchanged in its position of maintaining the current NLL," said the spokesman. "The inter-Korean agreement only calls for approaching the NLL issue not from military viewpoint, but from the perspective of peace and economic cooperation," he said.

Critics here contend that the creation of a special peace zone in the area surrounding the disputed inter-Korean maritime border could obscure the concept of the NLL.

SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap)

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