All Opposition Lawmakers Quit S. Korean Assembly

All 79 opposition lawmakers resigned en masse Monday as the rival governments of South Korea and North Korea wrangled over a proposal to open their common border to free travel.

Angry opposition lawmakers in the 299-member National Assembly demanded early elections to form a new Assembly and warned that President Roh Tae Woo is trying to use relations with North Korea to divert the public from worsening domestic problems.

North Korea supported the resignations and urged a stepped-up struggle against the Roh government.

Also Monday, the Roh government announced that it is willing to negotiate with Communist North Korea on conditions that the north is setting for opening the two countries’ common border to travelers.

“In order to open the border and realize grand national exchanges, we are ready to discuss any problems related to it,” Unification Minister Hong Sung Chul said on national radio and television.

In a dramatic speech Friday, Roh proposed that the common border be opened for five days in August on a trial basis, allowing people on both sides free travel. He also said open borders could lead to talks on unification.

But North Korea sent letters Monday rejecting Seoul’s offer to open the border and instead proposed expanded high-level talks on Friday. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Tokyo, reported the proposal.

The official North Korean party newspaper Rodong Shinmun said that South Korea’s offer to open its border for free travel “is nothing but a trick.”

It was not immediately known if South Korea would agree to the expanded border talks. Seoul has rejected such talks in the past.

In letters addressed to the South Korean government and opposition leaders, North Korea also demanded that South Korea scrap its anti-Communist national security laws, release prisoners jailed for promoting unification and allow South Korean dissidents to attend an Aug. 15 border rally sponsored by North Korea.

The Korean border is one of the most heavily fortified in the world. More than 1.5 million troops are deployed on both sides. There is no mail, travel or other communication between the two sides.

Kim Dae Jung, head of the opposition Party for Peace and Democracy, said his party welcomes efforts at opening the border but cautioned the government against using the issue for political gains.

The ruling Democratic Liberal Party, which controls two-thirds of the Assembly’s seats, said the resignations will not be immediately accepted.