Seoul
16 July 2008
South Korean officials are revealing what details they have so far oflast week's fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist by the NorthKorean military. The full picture of what actually happened remainsincomplete, however - because the North refuses to cooperate in aninvestigation. As VOA Seoul correspondent Kurt Achin reports, keyNorth Korean officials are not even picking up the phone.
SouthKorean investigators say it is clear to them 53-year old Park Wang-jawas shot in the back during her visit to North Korea last week.
Seo Jung-seok is a forensic specialist with South Korea's National Institute of Scientific Investigation.
Hesays an autopsy showed two bullets passed through Park's body. Both ofthe entry wounds are in her backside - the exit wounds are in the front.
Parkwas on a visit to the North's Kumgang Mountain resort last Friday. Thearea was built and is managed by South Korea's Hyundai corporation as ashowcase of inter-Korean reconciliation.
Park apparently lefther hotel room for an early morning stroll, and was later shot near aseaside area. North Korea has told Hyundai Asan she wandered into arestricted zone and attempted to flee when confronted by militarypersonnel.
Investigator Seo says Park died of excessive bloodloss from the wounds. He says based on the pattern of damage toorgans, he estimates the shots were taken at fairly long range.
SouthKorea is relying mainly on witness testimony from fellow tourists toreconstruct the killing, because it is receiving no cooperationwhatsoever from North Korea.
Pyongyang has refused South Korea'sdemands to allow investigators to visit the site of the killing. Ithas also failed to share footage taken by North Korean closed circuitcameras that may have been pointed at Friday's occurrences. SouthKorea's Unification Ministry says they have tried to contact NorthKorea using a specially established phone line, but nobody is pickingup.
The North has blamed South Korea for the shooting anddemanded a formal apology. Far from apologizing, South Korea hascalled the North Korean shooting "wrong" and "unimaginable."
Theimpasse over the shooting is a reflection of the broader North-Southrelationship, which has chilled considerably since the Februaryinauguration of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Pyongyang hasrefused any dialogue with Mr. Lee, who it describes as a "traitor" forhis conservative policy stance toward the North.
For now, theKumgang tour project is frozen, costing North Korea badly needed hardcurrency with each passing day. The question that remains is how muchmore pressure South Korea will be willing to apply until it gets theanswers it feels it deserves from the North.