UPDATE: According to Yonhap:
A group of five South Koreans on Tuesday crossed the heavily armed border into North Korea, an official here said, delivering 400 million won (US$340,000) worth of anti-malaria aid despite tension between the divided states.
The crossing marked the first South Korean civilian visit to the communist state since Seoul banned trips to North Korea three months ago in protest over the sinking of a South Korean warship in March near their Yellow Sea border.
A doctor and four others, including two drivers, traveled to the North Korean border city of Kaesong on Tuesday morning, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters. The doctor was needed to explain to North Korean authorities how to use the aid kits, Chun said earlier this week.
ORIGINAL POST: According to Yonhap:
South Korea will allow a doctor to travel to North Korea next week in the first approval of a civilian visit on a humanitarian mission to the communist state since Seoul banned exchanges with Pyongyang in May over the sinking of a South Korean warship, an official said Friday.
The doctor, accompanied by two drivers, will visit the North Korean border town of Kaesong next Tuesday, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters in a briefing. The group is transporting 400 million won (US$336,100) worth of anti-malaria aid from a civilian relief group, Chun said.
“The doctor’s visit has been granted because he needs to explain to the North how to use the aid kits,” he said, adding any spread of malaria in the North has the potential to affect South Korean residents south of the border.
Read the full story here:
S. Korea to allow rare civilian visit to N. Korea amid tension
Yonhap
Sam Kim
8/13/2010
