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14 August, 1999The soccer team comprised of South Korean workers returned home Saturday to face questioning by the prosecution after playing soccer matches with its North Korean counterpart.
KOREA, REP: The 37-member delegation of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), an umbrella labour group in the South, crossed the demarcation line through the border village of Panmunjom, after receiving a big send-off at the Northern section of the joint truce village.
"Amid a festive welcome by North Koreans, the unprecedented event ended as a great success, serving as an important momentum for national reunification," KCTU chairman Lee Kap-yong told a news conference.
"We also reached an agreement with our Northern counterparts to jointly hold three unification events, including the second round of the soccer matches in Seoul next year," he added.
Seoul had authorized the trip on condition that the workers would not engage in political activities while in Pyongyang, but officials said the KCTU delegates broke their promise by visiting a shrine for the late North Korean leader and founder, Kim Il-sung, and laying flowers before his statute.
State prosecutors plan to summon the union representatives to find out whether they did so of their own volition after examining the report about the trip in about 10 days.
"We are ready to undergo questioning," Lee said.
In addition to the return soccer matches in Seoul, Lee said, officials at the two Koreas' labour unions agreed to hold joint unification forums between affiliated bodies of both umbrella groups and maintain consultations to make the soccer match and forums a reality.
Source: Korea Herald
"Amid a festive welcome by North Koreans, the unprecedented event ended as a great success, serving as an important momentum for national reunification," KCTU chairman Lee Kap-yong told a news conference.
"We also reached an agreement with our Northern counterparts to jointly hold three unification events, including the second round of the soccer matches in Seoul next year," he added.
Seoul had authorized the trip on condition that the workers would not engage in political activities while in Pyongyang, but officials said the KCTU delegates broke their promise by visiting a shrine for the late North Korean leader and founder, Kim Il-sung, and laying flowers before his statute.
State prosecutors plan to summon the union representatives to find out whether they did so of their own volition after examining the report about the trip in about 10 days.
"We are ready to undergo questioning," Lee said.
In addition to the return soccer matches in Seoul, Lee said, officials at the two Koreas' labour unions agreed to hold joint unification forums between affiliated bodies of both umbrella groups and maintain consultations to make the soccer match and forums a reality.
Source: Korea Herald