NKorea rejects Seoul probe into tourist killing: tour boss
SEOUL (AFP) — North Korea is still refusing to let South Korean officials investigate the fatal shooting of a Seoul tourist by one of its soldiers, a tour boss said Tuesday after talks in the communist state.
The killing at the North's Mount Kumgang resort, after the woman strayed into a closed military area, has caused shock and anger in the South and further soured relations between the two sides.
The North blames the South for the incident and refuses to let it send government officials for an on-site investigation.
"I strongly called for a joint probe to close this case, but the North has not shown any change to its previous position that a joint investigation is not needed," Hyundai Asan president Yoon Man-Joon told reporters on his return from a four-day trip.
"I have to say that there was no tangible progress except that I conveyed (South Korean) public opinion and stressed the need for investigations."
Yoon, whose firm developed and operates the Kumgang resort, met three tourism officials.
He said he heard that a North Korean closed-circuit TV camera on a beach where the woman was shot had not been working at the time.
Yoon said that in the account he received of the killing, "there seemed to be some points different from the (North's) initial report made shortly after the incident." He gave no details.
Local media and officials have cast doubt on the times and other details in the account that the North first gave to Hyundai Asan.
The North said the tourist, who was taking a dawn stroll on the beach near her hotel, had gone "beyond the clearly marked boundary fence" and intruded deep into a military area.
It said she fled when challenged and did not stop even when a soldier discharged warning shots, forcing him to fire at her twice.
Witnesses have said they did not hear warning shots, and others have queried the distance the woman was supposed to have walked. Photos show no warnings on a fence section near the tideline.
The funeral of the victim, 53-year-old housewife Park Wang-Ja, was held Tuesday in Seoul. Her 23-year-son Bang Jae-Jeong wept during the Christian ceremony and kissed a photo of his mother while clutching it tightly.
Some 34 civic groups, including ones representing North Korean defectors, denounced Pyongyang's "arrogant" handling of the incident.
"North Korea maintains an arrogant attitude regarding South Korea's demand to find out the truth," they said in a joint statement. "It has no reason to reject a fact-finding mission if it has nothing to hide.
"It is nonsense for the soldier to shoot an unarmed middle-aged woman even if she trespassed into a restricted military zone."
The unification ministry, which handles cross-border ties, tried again to send a message Tuesday through the truce village of Panmunjom, asking the North to cooperate with the probe.
But the North refused to receive the message, ministry spokesman Kim Ho-Nyun said, vowing to keep pushing its request for an on-site investigation.
Inter-Korean relations have worsened since conservative President Lee Myung-Bak took office in February, promising a tougher line on Pyongyang. The North has suspended all official contacts.
Even though he was aware of last Friday's shooting Lee softened his stance in a speech to parliament later that day. He called for talks on implementing summit deals reached by his liberal predecessors.
The North rebuffed his overture.
An eight-strong government investigation team including forensic experts held its first meeting Monday. It will interview local witnesses to the tragedy while pressing for permission to visit Kumgang.
