(2nd LD) N. Korea returns body of S. Korean man via Panmunjom

(ATTN: UPDATES with outcome of religious meeting in 10, 13-14)
By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday returned the body of a South Korean man found floating near their western sea border, a move Seoul considers a pure humanitarian measure.

The North handed over the body, along with the man's belongings, through the truce village of Panmunjom as scheduled, the South's unification ministry said.

Pyongyang informed Seoul on Tuesday that it had discovered the body drifting off the coast of South Hwanghae Province, just north of the Yellow Sea border.

Based on a driver's license and a social security card found with the body, the man has been identified as a 61-year-old resident of Ansan, just south of Seoul, according to the ministry. He was only identified by his surname Lee as the ministry withheld his first name.

Lee disappeared in late June after he went fishing on a boat from South Korea's western port city of Incheon, sources said. The reason for his death remains unknown.

Officials in Seoul are not attaching much significance to Pyongyang's repatriation of the body itself.

"This kind of incident has happened at times. The body of a South Korean citizen sometimes has drifted toward the North and vice versa. In such cases, we have handed over the body to each other in a humanitarian manner," Park Soo-jin, deputy spokeswoman for the unification ministry, said at a press briefing. The ministry handles inter-Korean relations.

She had been asked if Seoul views Pyongyang's latest move, which came amid continued tensions between the two Koreas, as a positive step in efforts to normalize relations.

Reaffirming its support for civilian exchanges with the North, the ministry, meanwhile, allowed a group of religious leaders to visit the North on Wednesday.

The four-member delegation from an indigenous Korean religion, called Cheondo-gyo, had a meeting throughout the day with its northern counterpart in Kaesong to discuss a series of joint events to mark the 120th anniversary of the Donghak Peasant Revolution in 1894, well before Korea was split in two.

"The government has constantly allowed genuine social and cultural exchanges in the non-political sector. We approved the trip in accordance with the position," said Park.

Under the South's national security law, all of its citizens are required to notify the government of their plans to meet North Koreans or travel to the country and receive its approval.

During the meeting, the South Korean delegation invited North Korean Cheondo-gyo followers and descendents of the Donghak peasants to a ceremony set to be held in Seoul on Oct. 11 to mark the anniversary, according to the South Korean delegates.

Prior to the ceremony, the two sides will hold various joint events to mark the anniversary in North Korea around Sept. 18, including visiting historic sites of the revolution and holding academic meetings, they said.

lcd@yna.co.kr

leechidong@gmail.com
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