By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter


Some 30 members of the North Korean government and civilian delegation to the joint 60th Liberation Day celebrations will pay a tribute to the South Korean war dead at the National Cemetery in Seoul during their four-day stay, a top government official said Friday.

This will mark the first-ever courtesy of the North expressed to the South Korean soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The North proposed the visit to the cemetery in Tongjak-dong during a meeting of liaison officers at the truce village of Panmunjom last Friday. The Seoul government accepted the offer Tuesday, Rhee Bong-jo, vice minister of unification, told reporters.

``We give it a significant meaning in that the North suggested it first,’’ Rhee said. ``The visit to the cemetery is a total turnaround in inter-Korean relations. It is historic because it is a starting point to heal the wounds from the unfortunate past of killing one’s own people.’’

Rhee stressed that the North did not ask for any reciprocal deed from the South.

The cemetery enshrines, among others, soldiers who fell dead while fighting for national defense and independence fighters during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial period.

The North’s delegates will likely lay wreath and burn incense before the Hyongchungtap, a 31-meter-high tower that was built in 1967 to honor the spirit of those who died for the cause of the nation and people.

Asked about the possibility of clashes with conservative group members in the South objecting to the Northern delegates’ visit to the cemetery, Rhee said that ``there is a basic belief that the public shares the need to settle the unfortunate past for true reconciliation and cooperation between the two Koreas.’’

The vice minister added that Kim Ki-nam, who heads the 17-member government delegation from the North, will likely be included in the visitors’ group.

Earlier, rumors had it that Kim, a secretary of the North’s Workers Party and close confidant of Kim Jong-il, is a special envoy of the North Korean leader. Rhee said, ``It has not been confirmed yet.’’

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young will head the South’s 22-member government delegation to the celebrations, raising hopes of South-North discussions on the protracted talks on the North’s nuclear program that will resume in late August.

The North’s government delegates and 165 civic representatives will fly into Incheon International Airport on Sunday for the joint celebrations marking Liberation Day, scheduled for Aug. 14-16 in Seoul.

The North’s civic delegation includes 65 male and female football players to take part in the Aug. 15 South-North Unification Football Games, according to the Unification Ministry. The men’s team will play against the South Korean national team on Sunday at Sangam World Cup Stadium in Seoul and the women’s match is slated for Tuesday.

saltwall@koreatimes.co.kr