hankyoreh

Workers from South Korea’s two main umbrella unions check in for their flight to Pyongyang

After the first reunions of families divided by the Korean War in 20 months went off without a hitch, engagement between North and South Korea is increasing in the civic sector, with an inter-Korean workers’ soccer game taking place in Pyongyang after a gap of eight years.

The workers who will take part in the soccer game represent the largest number of South Koreans to visit North Korea for the purpose of cooperation and exchange since the May 24 Measures were put in place in May 2010 following the sinking of the Cheonan warship.

A 162-member delegation representing both major umbrella labor unions - including Kim Dong-man, chair of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), and Choi Jong-jin, senior vice chair of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) - arrived in North Korea at 12:30 pm on Oct. 28. The delegation traveled via the direct air route over the West (Yellow) Sea, departing from Gimpo International Airport and touching down at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport.

The workers will be in Pyongyang through Oct. 31, or four days altogether, to participate in the Inter-Korean Workers’ Unification Football Match. This is the third such match for workers from the two sides to take place, following previous matches in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 1999 and in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, in 2007.

On Oct. 29 and Oct. 30, football teams representing the FKTU and the KCTU will play against two teams belonging to the North Korean Occupational Alliance at the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang.

In addition to this, seven or eight other substantial examples of inter-Korean relations will have taken place this month alone. These joint projects include pest control efforts on the pines of Mt. Keumkang, a meeting to compile a pan-Korean comprehensive dictionary, a special exhibition about Manwoldae Palace in Kaesong based on a collaborative dig, and an assembly of Buddhists to commemorate the restoration of Singye Temple at Mt. Keumkang.

From Nov. 9 to 10, the Korea Conference of Religions for Peace (KCRP), a working group of South Korea‘s seven largest religious organizations, will be hosting an inter-Korean assembly for peace at Mt. Keumkang along with the North Korean Association of People of Faith.

North Korea is moving away from its reluctant attitude on private-sector exchange to a more proactive stance, and the South Korean authorities are also becoming more liberal in permitting civic groups in South Korea to engage in cooperation and exchange programs with the North.

Significantly, the government allowed not only the two umbrella labor unions but also the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice (CPAJ) to visit North Korea. On the invitation of North Korea’s Association of Catholic Churches, the CPAJ visited North Korea to take part in a mass held to pray for peaceful unification at Changchung Cathedral in Pyongyang on Oct. 25.

This group had applied to visit the North to attend North Korea’s Unification Prayer Group at Pohyon Temple on Myohyang Mountain in 2009 and to pay its respects for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Nov. 2011, but the government had rejected both of these applications.

With the divided family reunions taking place and private-sector exchange picking up speed after the Aug. 25 agreement between North and South Korea, there are optimistic predictions that a meeting between government officials from the two sides could be held as early as next month.

“No decisions have been made yet, but according to the inter-Korean agreement, a government meeting is supposed to take place after the reunions of divided families, and we are also pushing for a meeting of Red Cross leaders,” said Blue House National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin during a parliamentary audit at the National Assembly’s Steering Committee on Oct. 23.

“We are thinking about discussing issues related to the divided families, such as holding meetings on an ongoing basis and allowing family members to exchange letters,” Ri Chung-bok, chair of the central committee of North Korea’s Red Cross, told South Korean reporters at a hotel at Mt. Keumkang on Oct. 24.

By Kim Jin-chul, staff reporter

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