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| Participants carry the Korean unification flag after the inter-Korean event held by the South Korean Committee for Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration, a private organization, and its North Korean counterpart to push for unification in Pyongyang in this June 17 file photo. / Korea Times File |
By Park Ji-won
The South Korean Committee for Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration will hold a New Year's event with its North Korean counterpart at the North's Mount Geumgang resort late this month, the organization revealed Monday.
The pro-unification organization said its North Korean counterpart sent a letter Saturday to propose holding the joint event at the North's mountain resort between Jan. 30 and 31.
"We first suggested holding the event after consultation with several relevant organizations. As the North has agreed with our proposal, the event will be pushed forward as planned," the organization's spokesperson Lee Yon-hee said.
The June 15 declaration was an agreement made by leaders of the two Koreas at their first summit in 2000. The private organization was formed to implement the agreement.
Some 250 South Koreans and 15 members of a foreign delegation will participate in the two-day event titled "New Year's solidarity meeting to implement the Panmunjeom Declaration and Pyongyang Declaration."
It will include meetings between committee chiefs to discuss ways to strengthen the unification movement, a ceremony to adopt a joint statement regarding a New Year's plan to revitalize the unification movement the group said. Also, a banquet and performances by artists from both countries will follow. The banquet will be held inside the resort and participants will take a walk near Lake Samilpo.
The North has asked the South to send a list of participants by Jan. 15 and said it hopes the South's preparation team will arrive at Mount Geumgang one day before the event, it said.
