Summary of inter-Korean news this week

NK weekly-inter-Korean news

Summary of inter-Korean news this week

SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.

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(LEAD) N. Korea illegally running 30 S. Korean-owned facilities at Kaesong complex: Seoul

SEOUL -- North Korea has been operating some 30 South Korean-owned facilities at a now-shuttered inter-Korean joint industrial park in the North without authorization, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday.

The government also said North Korea has been removing debris from an inter-Korean liaison office that Pyongyang blew up in 2020. The office was located in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the namesake border city.

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Auditor says Moon gov't neglected, covered up, distorted 2020 death of fisheries official

SEOUL -- The state audit agency on Thursday announced the final results of its inspection into the 2020 death of a South Korean fisheries official at the hands of North Korea, concluding that the then Moon Jae-in government did little to save him and covered up and distorted facts related to the case.

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) reached the conclusion after its yearlong inspection into the preceding Moon government's handling of the killing of the fisheries official, Lee Dae-jun, by the North's military near the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea on Sept. 22, 2020.

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S. Korea urges N. Korea to cooperate in uncovering truth of S. Korean POWs

SEOUL -- South Korea urged North Korea on Wednesday to acknowledge the issue of prisoners of the 1950-53 Korean War detained in the country and cooperate in uncovering their fate.

Seoul made the call during an interagency meeting on the issue of prisoners of war (POW) -- the first session of its kind under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

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Over 60 pct of S. Korean university students say resolution of N.K. nuclear issue necessary for reunification: poll

SEOUL -- Over 6 out of 10 South Korean university students think that a resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue is necessary to achieve the reunification of the two Koreas, a survey showed Tuesday.

In the survey conducted by Seoul's foreign ministry, Chung-Ang University and the Hyundai Research Institute on 500 undergraduate and graduate students from Oct. 8-21, 63.2 percent of respondents considered a resolution of the North's nuclear problem as a prerequisite to reunification.

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S. Korea slams N. Korea for making false accusations over 2018 inter-Korean military accord

SEOUL -- The unification ministry on Monday condemned North Korea for repeatedly making false accusations against South Korea over an 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, saying Pyongyang is seeking to drive a wedge in South Korea.

A North Korean commentator said Sunday a "physical clash and war" have become a matter of time on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of the scrapping of the military accord, warning that South Korea will face "total collapse" if it undertakes any hostile act.

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N.K. hacking group Andariel steals key defense technologies from S. Korean firms

SEOUL -- Andariel, a North Korean hacking organization, has stolen digital data containing key technologies from South Korean defense firms and repatriated part of the money they acquired via ransomware attacks on other firms, police said Monday.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency made the findings in collaboration with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and an investigation is currently under way into the case, police officials said.

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