Saturday, September 20, 2008

South Korean aid workers to visit North Korea

A group of South Korean aid workers left for North Korea on Saturday to attend the opening ceremonies of medical facilities they helped build in the reclusive communist country.

The trip by 135 people, including about 10 journalists, is drawing attention because the secretive North agreed to accept the visitors at a time of widespread speculation about the health of its leader Kim Jong Il.

The group is scheduled to attend the opening of two medical facilities - a quality control room at a pharmaceutical plant and a surgery theater at a hospital - in Pyongyang, said Hong Sang-young, an official with the Korean Sharing Movement, the South Korean aid group that organized the trip. Their itinerary also includes a tour of the city and its educational facilities, he said.

[AP]

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