Summary of inter-Korean news this week

NK weekly-inter-Korean news

Summary of inter-Korean news this week

SEOUL, July 7 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.

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S. Korea publishes hard copies of English report on N. Korea's human rights

SEOUL -- South Korea's unification ministry said Friday it has published hard copy prints of an English version of its report on North Korea's human rights situation as part of efforts to raise global awareness on the issue.

The publication is a printed version of the government's annual report on North Korea's human rights violations, which was first made public in late March in line with President Yoon Suk Yeol's hard-line policy toward the North.

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(LEAD) Dossier highlights moments leading to 1st inter-Korean agreement signed after Koreas' division

SEOUL -- South Korea's unification ministry on Thursday unveiled newly declassified documents offering a glimpse into what led to the July 4 joint communique in 1972, the first agreement signed between South and North Korea since the division of the peninsula.

The dossier includes transcripts of confidential inter-Korean contacts in the months leading up to the historic agreement, such as a 1972 meeting in Pyongyang between Seoul's then spy chief Lee Hu-rak and the North's Kim Yong-ju, the younger brother of then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.

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(LEAD) Hyundai Group chief withdraws application to visit Mt. Kumgang after N. Korea's refusal

SEOUL -- The chief of South Korea's Hyundai Group has withdrawn an application to visit North Korea's Mount Kumgang, after the North said it has "no intention to examine" the application, an official at Seoul's unification ministry said Monday.

Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of Hyundai Group, which had run sightseeing programs at the North Korean mountain, had been seeking to visit the North in August to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of her husband and former chairman of the group, Chung Mong-hun.

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