Summary of inter-Korean news this week

NK weekly-inter-Korean news

Summary of inter-Korean news this week

SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.

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(2nd LD) Coast Guard apologizes over controversial speculation on death of fisheries official

SEOUL -- The Coast Guard on Thursday apologized for having previously presumed a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korea's military near the western sea border in 2020 was attempting to voluntarily defect to the North.

Reversing its own previous assumption of the fisheries official's possible intention to defect to North Korea, the Coast Guard said that it has not found any circumstances suggesting he was attempting to defect.

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(LEAD) Unification minister vows consistent N.K. policy, marking key summit anniv.

SEOUL -- South Korea will continue to pursue dialogue with North Korea in line with the spirit of reconciliation rooted in the first-ever summit of their leaders over two decades ago, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said Wednesday.

Kwon stressed the need to maintain a consistent policy toward the North to achieve stable inter-Korean relations amid such "hard times," as he delivered a speech to mark the 22nd anniversary of the June 15 Declaration adopted at a historic summit in 2000 between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

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N. Korea asks S. Korean church to build hospitals in 260 counties

SEOUL -- North Korea has asked Yoido Full Gospel Church, South Korea's biggest Protestant church, to build hospitals in 260 counties across the country, a church official said Tuesday.

"There was a request from North Korea to establish 'people's hospitals' in 260 counties after the construction of a cardiac hospital in Pyongyang is complete," Lee Young-hoon, senior pastor of the church, told reporters at a hotel in downtown Seoul.

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S. Korea cautious about whether N. Korea's replacement of top diplomat heralds policy change

SEOUL -- North Korea's promotion of veteran diplomat Choe Son-hui, known for her experience in negotiations with the United States, to the post of foreign minister is not necessarily an indication of a shift in its external policy, a government official here said Tuesday.

Pyongyang announced the pick of Choe, vice foreign minister, for the position in a decision made at the plenary meeting of the ruling party's Central Committee last week. The move has raised speculation about the possibility of the reclusive North changing tack to seek to restart denuclearization talks with Washington that have been stalled for more than three years.

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N. Korea ready to conduct nuclear test any time: ministry

SEOUL -- North Korea is ready to carry out a nuclear test any time at leader Kim Jong-un's discretion, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday.

There has been widespread speculation that the secretive North's nuclear test might be imminent amid reports it has completed relevant preparations at its northeastern testing site in Punggye-ri.

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Presidential office holds security meeting amid N.K. artillery shots

SEOUL -- The presidential National Security Office has held a meeting to discuss North Korea's firing of artillery shots presumably from a multiple rocket launcher, the presidential office said.

The shots were detected between 8:07 a.m. and 11:03 a.m. on Sunday morning, and the NSO meeting was convened at 10:30 a.m. the same day to check the military's readiness posture, the office said in a notice to reporters late Sunday night.

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