*** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS

N. Korea Agrees to Repatriation of 27 of Its Nationals in S. Korea

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- In a softened stance, North Korea has agreed to the repatriation of 27 of its 31 nationals held in South Korea after their fishing boat drifted into the South last month, withdrawing its earlier demand that Seoul also send back the other four, who wished to defect, officials said on March 15.

   A five-ton wooden boat carrying the North Koreans drifted over the inter-Korean maritime border off the west coast in a thick fog on Feb. 5. Of the 31 people, four have expressed their wishes to stay in the South.

   The agreement to allow the 27 nationals to return to the North, expressed through the Red Cross channel of the two countries, ends a deadlock that had lasted since South Korea told North Korea more than a week ago that it would repatriate only 27 of the 31 North Koreans.

   Backing down on its demand that all 31 be returned in a single group, the North requested on March 15 that 27 be returned by sea, according to Unification Ministry officials here.

   "The North Korean side requested that the 27 people first be returned in consideration of the feelings of the families waiting for them," the South Korea Red Cross said in a release.

   The South, citing bad weather in the Yellow Sea through which they came, proposed instead returning them on March 16 through a truce village straddling the countries, but the North insisted they be returned by sea as soon as the weather improves, the officials said.

   "If the North insists they be returned by sea, we will watch the weather situation at sea. If returned by sea, they will ride on the same boat they came here on," a ministry official said.

   Since South Korea announced that four of the 31 North Koreans would stay, the North has mounted a propaganda campaign against the South, sending emotional letters written by the family members of the defectors and posting online video interviews with them.

   North Korea claims the South coerced the four into defecting in a plot against Pyongyang. Seoul denies the charge and says the four defected on their own free will.

  
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N. Korea Rejects S. Korean Letter of Complaint over Jamming Signals

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea on March 15 rejected a letter from South Korea demanding that the communist nation stop sending jamming signals across the border, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.

   South Korea's communications watchdog, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), asked the ministry earlier in the day to send the North a letter in which it complained of the trouble caused by disruptions to Global Positioning System (GPS) signals in the South.

   South Korean officials blamed North Korea for jamming the signals early this month in what they believe was an attempt to interrupt ongoing military drills between South Korean and U.S. forces. GPS-based mobile phones and certain military equipment in the South's northwestern areas experienced minor errors due to the disruption, according to officials.

   "Following the KCC's request, we tried to deliver to the North a letter of complaint written in the name of KCC Chairman Choi See-joong through the liaison office at Panmunjom," the ministry said, referring to the inter-Korean truce village. "But the North's liaison officer refused to receive it."

   In the letter, the KCC said it demanded that the North "instantly stop jamming activities and provide measures against similar incidents in the future."

   The commission also wrote that the jamming of GPS signals is "causing an inconvenience to our people and threatening their safety," adding that such actions are "unacceptable" under International Telecommunications Union regulations. Both South and North Korea are members of the union.

   North Korea was accused of jamming GPS signals across the border last year, but this is the first time the South has tried to lodge an official complaint on the matter.

   South Korea has already sought international action against the sabotage, with the foreign ministry sending a letter of inquiry to a United Nations agency in charge of information and communication technologies, a presidential official said earlier this month.

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