North Korea on Friday threatened to stop family reunions with South Korea in protest over reported comments by the South's Red Cross chief.
"We have no choice but to reconsider the exchanges of family members for reunions and the opening of the inter-Korean Red Cross talks," said the statement by the state-controlled North Korean Red Cross, broadcast by Radio Pyongyang.
The next family reunions are due to be held on November 30 but South Korean officials admitted there could now be holdups.
Bringing together families kept apart by the five decade old Cold War between the North and South was one of the key successes of the historic summit between their leaders in June.
In August, 200 people from each side held tearful meetings with long lost relatives they had not seen since the division of the Korean peninsula in 1945.
The North's statement complained about an interview given by Chang Choong-Shik, president of the South Korea Red Cross, to the conservative Chosun monthly.
Chang was quoted as saying: "We need to have a broad mind to look at North Koreans with love. We cannot sustain reunification without generosity for those living in a less free, more-economically-hard and more-controlled society."
The North Korean Red Cross said: "The comment is inconceivable coming from a Red Cross man, and as long as he remains the head of the (South's) Red Cross, we will not deal with him."
It added: "The deeds of the president of the South Korean Red Cross have thrown an unpredictable, grave obstacle to settling the humanitarian issues between the North and the South," the North's official Korea Central News Agency reported.
The Red Cross committees from the two sides have for years been used for unofficial contacts between the rivals, who fought the 1950-53 Korean War. Both presidents are appointed by their governments.
Chang was not immediately available to comment. But he was quoted by Seoul's Yonhap News Agency as saying: "I feel sorry. The comment was adapted by the monthly magazine reporter."
An aide to the South's Red Cross chief earlier told AFP: "Chang was misquoted by the magazine."
But the magazine denied any changes were made.
South Korean officials feared the North's outraged reaction might hold up the upcoming family reunions.
"We will be able to see what the North's real intention is next week," a South Korean Unification Ministry official said.
He said the two Koreas are to inform each other of the whereabouts of 200 candidates to be reunited with relatives next Friday.
Following the August meetings, the two sides later agreed to organize two more family reunions this year.
The second three-day exchanges were originally planned for November 2. It was North Korea which asked for the delay until the end of the month.
South Korean officials cited the communist state's hectic schedule as it embarks on negotiations with the United States and Japan to establish better ties.
But the North has also missed the deadline for new defense ministers' talks, crucial for the start of the full-scale reconstruction of a cross-border railway. No concrete progress has been made in preparations -- SEOUL (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
